What would YOU like to see?

Greetings all my followers..

I do hope that your day is going a tad bit better than mine.  Actually, I am vicariously living through some of you.  Making mouthwatering red velvet cupcakes, eating Chinese food and watching Pretty Woman, attending a wedding and watching a volleyball tournament.  Man, I'm having fun this weekend after all!  Thanks to all of you who posted what you were doing this weekend.  It is much appreciated.

I have been trying to think of something to do once a week for this blog to make it more interesting for you, the reader.  I have spent the entire lifetime of this blog writing about what is going on in my life, which doesn't usually consist of religion, politics or any other such scandalous things.  I'm just not that interested in such things.  I suppose I just haven't found the one true thing that actually peaks my interest in this world.  Don't get me wrong.  I like a lot of things.  Music, books, singing karaoke and whatnot, but there are loads of music blogs out there and loads of book blogs out there.  What could I write about that would be something different.  Shoot, even writing about my everyday life isn't new or different.  I'm just average.

I've come across some blogs that do a weekly thing.  Like getting to know you questions, or the weekly book review or movie review.  Things like that.  I think what I need is a Muse.  So, I will post it to you, the reader, what once-a-week thing would you like to see more of.  Weekly lame jokes?  Weekly critiques on something or another.  How about a weekly poem.  Umm.. yeah..  Well anyway, I'll leave it up to you guys.  

Until then, more updates about myself.

My daughter came in for a surprise visit to my work.  She does this every once in a while when her sitter is in town running errands.  It was awesome to see her.  Well she lives with me so I see her all the time, but it was good to see her during the long hours of work.  Her visit really helped to break up the monotony of my day.  She almost always has a smile on her face.  She's such a cutie patootie!

So, I'll think more on a weekly installation.  I have little to do at work but work anyway...

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Yesterday turned out to be quite busy.  I didn't really get to sleep in.  My internal clock is much too attuned to that most days.  I did get up, though, and checked my SA stuff, got the name of the day's soldier to write to.  It is really tough to write to someone I don't know anything about.  Who doesn't know anything about me.  Sometimes I feel my life is so boring that it isn't even worth blogging about much less writing to a soldier about.  Usually I send along comic strips in the Sunday paper, but I didn't even have time to pick one up over my weekend.  I really need to start doing that again.  Who knows if they find them funny, but I would think that it is different than the everyday "Hi, my name is..." routine.

I was going to send one of my soldiers some DVDs that had been requested in the comments.  Even though we, as Angels, do not have to send anything out that are in the comments section, I still thought that they would appreciate some movies until they get adopted.  So, I went and picked up a small flat rate box from the post office.  The description online said that is was about the size of three stacked DVDs.  Perfect.  Or so I thought.  Yeah, is was ABOUT the size of three stacked DVDs, but I couldn't get it closed because it was just a little too tall.  I'll have to wait until my padded flat rate envelopes come that I ordered online from the usps website.  I still sent that soldier a letter, and told her that I would send some movies for her and her team as soon as I got the right envelopes.  What a day!

I took Raven down to City Cuts to have her hair cut again.  She actually won a free hair cut at the Festival of Diana a few weeks ago.  We tried to go down last week, but WT wasn't there.  We made arrangements for a lunch date for yesterday and get Raven's hair cut while we were there.  She looks SO adorable.  Raven that is.  I am considering getting my hair cut the same way, which is really what I wanted the last time I got my hair cut, I just couldn't figure out how to describe it.

Yesterday I finally mailed out the boxes for two of my TLC requests.  I have two more boxes ready to go out as soon as I can get to the post office.  I don't think I've ever bought as much gummy candy in my life as I have in the last week!  I LOVE this volunteer work!

There isn't much else to my life right now.  I have no boyfriend, no husband, and not very many friends to speak of.  I spend the majority of my time with Raven or writing my soldiers.  I look forward to the summer when we can get out to the park again.  I want to take her to the water park they have here.  It looks like fun.  I am still planning on going to Southern California to see the Vile one, but sometimes I don't think he appreciates the effort I am making to make that trip.  I could be wrong about it, though.  Raven is HIS daughter, after all.  He'd better be somewhat grateful.  He'll never make the trip to come see her.

On the bright side of things, I should be getting my pc back in the next few days.  I can't wait because I've missed not being able to stream Netflix, work on picture collages and other things that I've been wanting to do.  I'm just looking forward to getting my baby back.  It's been with me for the last five years.


Those are my ramblings for now.  Thanks for reading!




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Tarot, Letters, Chocolate and Service

I've been having some issues lately keeping the days straight. On Monday I thought it was Sunday. Really? It was a holiday, yes, but a Sunday? No. On Sunday I thought that the tarot meetup was at 6pm. Turns out that it was really at 6pm. I did realize that just in time and didn't show up on Sunday to find myself in an embarrassing situation. I did go on Monday, though, to see what it was about. I have a set of tarot cards, but I'm not very good at reading them, and I never read for anyone else. My intuition is just not very pronounced.

I wrote many letters and posted many cards for the mail over my weekend. It's important to me to send out these letters every week. Almost as important as it is for the soldiers to get them. I haven't heard back from any of them yet, but that's ok. I know that they are out there. It isn't that hard to find out where they are and see, sometimes, the conditions they are serving in, the situations they volunteer for. That is why I joined the Soldiers' Angels. To help bring some reminder of home, a reminder that they are not doing this in vain. Not everyone supports the war over there, but at least we can support the troops. They go where they are told.

I signed up to send some food to a Marine unit who is nowhere near a PX. I wasn't able to send much, but I do hope that it brings a smile to a least a few of them. While I was in the grocery store, I happened upon a gentleman (using the term loosely) who basically told me it wasn't allowe to send food overseas. Tough shit. I'm sending it anyway.

I also packed up a box for a female hero who had requested a few things. I sent a few "beauty" kits along with a load of chocolate. Hey, we females NEED that chocolate when the moon is full!

There was a time when I thought I would join the Army. I went to the recruiter's office, took their test to which after getting the scores back the recruiter told me I could have my pick of any job I wanted. I pondered it for a few weeks. Going into the military is not something to be taken lightly. I waited too long. I ended up pregnant with my son and that was the end of that. I look back and think about how my life would have turned out if I had done things differently. I know I would be a different person than I am now if I had gone into the military instead of having a family. One that broke into a bazillion pieces shortly after it started, I might add.  No matter, what's done is done.  Now I have the opportunity to serve those who serve us.  It's amazing.

I got a pleasant surprise last night.  I got to see an uncle whom I had not seen since the last time he was in town.  He's a truck driver, so once in a while he makes a run to Boise.  I haven't seen the rest of his family for at least 12 years.  I have a cousin that I have never met.  It was nice to see him again.  He's one of my favorite uncles.  Well they are all my favorites.  I have four.  Anyway, I enjoyed our very short visit.  It was too short, but I'll be going to Utah in June for one of  my cousin's graduation.  It's been a long since I sat through a graduation, but I'm going mostly for family.  My mother is coming down from Alaska and I think my grandmother and my aunt will be there as well.  (Mom's side of the family) Yeah, it will be a good trip, if not a short one.

For now, though I'm just trying to stay sane. It's my Monday and I didn't really want to come back to work.  Does anyone really?

Another 12 Hours

It's Saturday. Most of you are saying, "WooHooo Saturday!" Not me. It IS my Friday, but it's also the longest day I have of the week. Twelve long, boring hours of sitting in this office maintaining numbers, doing reports that no one reads, and entering data on a spreadsheet. The highlight of my day will be eating lunch. (Which is really good today, by the way!)

I've been asked by one of the APMs to bake some cupcakes for a bake sale to help support one of our sister sites in another country. Ok, no problem. They've been experiencing some really difficult weather and flooding or some other such thing. I think I'll be able to donate some great cupcakes for their bake sale.

I ordered my Soldiers' Angels dog tag the other day, and it came in the mail yesterday. I thought the package I had received were the stamps that I ordered from usps.com. I didn't even noticed the gold SA seal on the envelope until I actually opened it to find my dog tag. It is so beautiful. It has a raised, gold-colored SA emblem on the front and their mission statement (for lack of a better word) on the back. It reads:

May no soldier go unloved.
May no soldier walk alone.
May no soldier be forgotten,
Until they all come safely home.

I'm going to wear it everywhere. Hopefully that will stir up some conversation.

One of the other Angels is sending me some basic business cards until I can get my own made. I still haven't gotten my computer back from the girl who was going to take a look at it for me. I think that a few weeks is long enough to figure out what is wrong with it, eh? That is where all my good programs are sitting... Adobe CS3 Suite, etc. Anyway, at least I'll have those basic business cards to hand out. After I get them I'll be going to find that guy that I met in the grocery store last week so at least he'll have some more information.

I have answered a few of the TLC requests on the SA forums. Last night I went to the grocery store to fill a few requests. One soldier wanted a bunch of gummy stuff. I started his box by getting several bags of different types of gummy candy. I will probably put together a few hygiene products... shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, things like that. His box isn't finished. yet. BUT, I did finish the lady's box. She wanted things like soap, chocolate, and slim fast. I don't buy Slim Fast. I don't think it's very healthy. (Like chocolate and candy is, right?) I also put together three beauty kits (shampoo, toothpaste, soap, etc) so she can share them with a few of her female teammates. I hope they like them. I'll send those out on Wednesday after I get paid again. I'll be sending out more post cards, more greeting cards and more letters this week as well. I bought 60 stamps that haven't come in the mail just yet. Perhaps they will arrive today. I still have several of the previous 20 that I got at the post office, but those will go really quick. I know what I want for Christmas and Birthday!! More postage please!

I really need to get a small table. I already got a writing table so that I have some place to actually sit down and write, but the care packages are just laying on the floor. They are fine there, but I don't like sitting on the floor. I'd rather sit at a table. Even if it is just a card table, but a nice sized one would be better. I don't have a dining room table if that is what you're wondering.

Day 2 of bringing my lunch to work with me. Today is a small salad and cream cheese/almond/raisin wraps. They are really good! I also have apple granola crunch for a snack today. Go me!

Anyway, I've managed to kill about a half hour in the time that I've typed this in. I'm sure I'll be back later on today for more chaotic ramblings......


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Some Things You Just Have to Restart More Than Once

Anyone who knows me well knows that I've been fairly heavy every since I hit puberty and it hasn't gotten any better. After giving birth to three children, all by C-section, I have pretty much given up on ever being thin or in shape ever again. When I was young I was very active in sports of all kinds. Softball being the one I loved the most followed with cross country, track, volleyball, flag football, kickball, basketball and I even attempted to play soccer one year. That didn't work out.

I was the girl who was always picked first for sports teams in P.E. The other girls hated it, and I think that was one reason I was always picked on in elementary school. But this blog certainly isn't about reliving my horrible childhood.

Several months ago I joined a website called sparkpeople.com. It is a fitness/calorie tracking website that helps motivate people into losing weight. It is a really easy site to use once one gets used to it. I've been tracking (on and off) my food since I joined. I've also joined a few teams, joined a few goals, and realized that what I was doing just wasn't working. Well, no. I take that back. I lost about three pounds before I got cocky and thought that I didn't need the site anymore.. LOL.. I still continued to track my food stuff, but I really didn't do it whole-heartedly. Then I started reverting back to my old eating habits.... fast food, pizza, etc. I've probably gained back more weight than I've lost in the last few months. Shame on me!

It's true that I had started the C25K program. (See other blog for more info on that) The weather turned really horrible, so I have to put that on hold. No matter. I'll restart that program just as soon as the weather regains control of itself. For now, I'll go back to hooping. It's a great workout. I haven't made very much time for it lately, though. I've been really entrenched in my Soldiers' Angels stuff, writing many letters and cards and post card in the last several weeks. I am starting to wonder if I am spreading myself too thin. Nah.. couldn't be that!

So, regarding my eating habits. I've REstarted tracking my food with even more empassioned fervor than before. I have taken measure to ensure that I will only eat the good stuff, leaving the other stuff to be donated (like the mac and cheese) to a local food bank. I can think of a few things that I really don't want in my kitchen anymore.

It's been a while since I actually made a lunch, much less a healthy one, for work. Today I have both and I am so proud of myself. (Hey, there's no one else to be proud of me.) I am looking forward to lunch as before I found food so boring, mundane and pointless.

So many people have the point of view that we are all going to die so we might as well die eating what we want. I used to have that opinion, but I would rather try to extend that life as far as I possibly can so that I can attempt to do all the things that I really want, and not be hindered by impending doom of diabetes or worse, heart disease. Ok, so I was kind of scared of the possibility of diabetes when I went to the eye doc the other day. I do NOT want to have to deal with diabetes. That would be horrible. I need to get my weight under control.

So, that's what I'm doing. I'm taking a stand (again) and reclaiming my life and my health.

Wish me luck!

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Just an update - Nothing More, Nothing Less

Not too much has happened in the last few days. I sent in the paperwork for the CNC position. After I got home from that, I noticed that one must be a Soldier Angel for a minimum of six months before getting that title. Ooops. Oh well, I wrote the lady I have been corresponding with and let her know that if I wasn't able to become one right away that I had no issue waiting the extra four months. Until then, there is still plenty I can do for the troops overseas. I've been dreaming about different types of fundraisers and things of that nature.

I really cannot believe the crazy weather we've been having as of late. Two days ago it was 60 degrees and yesterday morning I woke up and birds were chirping and the sun was shining. Later on that day we got a dusting of snow and this morning I awoke to four inches of snow and slick roads.

Spring, hurry up and get here!

Today I brought some post cards into work for anyone that might want to write a word of thanks or encouragement for the troops. I have 9 total. We'll see what happens.

I haven't had such a passion about anything in a long time. It's always been about my survival and the survival of my daughter. Now that I'm out of survival mode (stable job, apartment, food, clothes, etc) I have begun to give back to humanity. Yes, soldiers are part of humanity. People might not always agree to the reasons they get deployed, but they are still part of us, part of our country. They deserve our respect and our support. And, I'll do that in any way I can.

So, now it's back to work. Back to the mundane job of managing numbers. It's a living, and one that allowed me to get out of survival mode, so I really cannot complain. It's easy, and gives me time during the day to think about other things......like my soldiers.

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Conform? Me? NEVER!

This is mostly a supplemental blog entry. If you've read my previous entry, you know that I got new glasses yesterday. Now, being the thrifty person I normally am, I try to choose something that is economically sound, but hey, I just got my tax return, so I thought, "Why not splurge!"

Ok, I still had a budget. I looked through all the frames, and had actually found some online that I rather liked, but when I tried them on, they looked really awful. It happens, right? So, instead I looked through their frame cases. I saw some really expensive designers like Prada and Versace. I wasn't going to pay their prices though. I just picked something that I thought looked really neat and they reminded me of frames I had several years ago and was mostly within my budget.

So, earlier today a friend of mine commented on how I'd gone all designer with my new specs. I asked her what the heck she was talking about. The only thing on my glasses are a D & G. I was like what are you talking about, designer.

She said, "You mean you've never heard of Dolce and Gabana?"


Ummmmm... who?

My Weekend

I've had the last two days off. My weekend consists of Sunday and Monday, then I get another day off on Wednesday, but I don't really consider that part of my weekend. Anyway...

Sunday was a great day. Raven and I went and got more cards for the Cards Plus Team requests. Yesterday I sent out four birthday cards, one card of encouragement, a get well card, three post cards and two letters that also contained some of the Sunday comics. I have two care packages that are ready to go out. I'll take them on Wednesday.

I have had such a great time being with the Soldiers' Angels. I was in the store the other day purchasing some stuff for the SA warehouse. They are in need of supplies for the backpacks they send to the wounded. While I was in line the gentleman behind me said, "sending care packages?" And of course I said yes. He started telling me about his time overseas and how much he and his platoon always enjoyed getting care packages sent from home. He said that they swarmed like vultures and that no matter what was inside, everything was always divvied up fairly. He said that it didn't matter what was in the box, anything and everything was always appreciated. It made me feel really good to know that what I was doing is making a difference to someone. By the time the clerk had finished ringing up my items, the gentleman and I exchanged names and he said to come by his work. He had a lot of friends who would love to donate stuff and things to Soldiers' Angels. It is great what a little friendly conversation can do!

I have such a strong feeling for the Soldiers' Angels that I decided that I am going to apply to be a Community Network Coordinator. I would love to be able to hold fundraisers and other events for the SA. Who knows where this all will lead in the future! I am so very proud to be a Soldier Angel!

Ok, so after buying the cards, Raven and I went to the Festival of Diana. A small, quaint, but extremely fun afternoon of face painting, carnival-like games and other fun. I was a little hesitant on going. Small spaces give me the creeps when there are lots of people in the room, but it turned out that the day was so nice, that I was able to spend some time outside while Raven had fun with the games. She had a rainbow painted on her face, so I did, too. I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen in quite a long while, and meet some new people. It was a grand time.

Yesterday, Monday, I got to drop Raven off at daycare. They were having a V-day party and I didn't want her to miss it. That gave me the day to spend doing other things. I was going to go to a movie, but I had made an eye appointment because I needed new glasses badly. I'd had that pair for at least three years, probably longer.

To make a really long story short, I ended up getting my eyes dilated, which stings pretty badly at first then makes your eyes look like a bug's.. lol. Glad I didn't get pulled over on the way home. I wouldn't want to try to explain that! Anyway, the doctor said that he found some abnormality in some of the nerves in my eyes. That might explain some of the headaches I've been getting lately. The headaches haven't been bad enough to make me nauseous or anything like that, but I told him the headaches were the reason I had come to the doctor in the first place. I think that the nerves are abnormal as of late because I've had to squint at the computer screen for such a long time.. LOL.

He wanted to send me to a specialist, but I don't have insurance, and that would probably be really expensive. Perhaps in the future I'll be able to do so. Either way, the glasses I got were worth all the stingy eye drops.

I got a pair of black frames with purple gradient tint on the lenses. They look really cool but you can't tell they are gradient just by looking at them. It's neat. I used to have a pair very similar to this that had a rose tint on the lenses. I guess I enjoy looking at life through rose-colored glasses. ;)

Yesterday I also purchased a new digital camera while I was waiting for my glasses to be made. (Go Lenscrafters!) It has all sorts of nifty settings and whatnot. It's 14 megapixels which is way better than my old camera that was 2.1 mp i think.. LOL.. I can't wait to see what this camera can do! It also takes video, so I'll be looking forward to using that feature as well. My mother had given me her old digital camera, but it is on its last leg, and even though it is small, it isn't small enough for me to carry everywhere. This will work perfectly for my trip to SoCal in April.

Well, I think I've gnawed on your eyes long enough. Thanks for reading. Have a wonderfilled day!


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The Long List

I can say with full honesty that work is turning me into a zombie. I am glad to be employed, especially in this economy, but this is totally not what I want to do for the rest of my life. But those of you who have been following me know that already.

In the otherwise boring state that is my life I just have a few goals for my weekend which starts tomorrow: (Saturday)

Clean the apartment from stem to stern including Raven's room that I've been threatening to clean for a month now
Go grocery shopping
Clean Neelix's cage
Ship out my SA care packages
Buy various cards for other Angels
Pick up more Idaho post cards
Finally finish Wicked (I can't believe people thought that book was so good)
Do the W1D2 of C25K
Attend the Festival of Diana
Write letters to my soldiers
Hoop for an hour's worth of time
Get the car washed
Do Laundry
Take Raven to do something fun


I think that's about all I could possibly squeeze into two days. I'll let you know if I actually get it all done.

I think I need a new hobby. Perhaps I'll try to write a short story.

The Proverbial Monkeys/New Soldier

I'm sure we've all been there. That financial feeling of utter dread. That feeling that you won't be able to get out no matter how much you work, fight, promise, beg and steal, you won't ever be able to get out from under the bills. This seems to happen every year for me in some way. Last year and this year it ended up being Raven's daycare expenses. Last year it was the purchase of a car that at the time seemed to be needed and was promised to be paid back. This year it was an unexpected move that caused me to become so terribly behind on the daycare.

Raven's daycare have been extremely patient with me. I tried to put myself on a plan after moving earlier in 2010, but I never got out from under the several hundred dollar debt that it ended up incurring.

Well, this year I did my taxes just like I do every year. Because I made so much more money in 2010 than 2009, I ended up in a higher tax bracket, oh goodie. So, that being said, I didn't get as much back as I did last year, but hey, it was enough. I got that return back today and was able to pay off the $1,130 in daycare expenses and get my rent paid. I've also put several hundred dollars away in my savings account, some which will be used to make my trip in April. I can't wait for that. After all that, I will have enough left to go grocery shopping, do some clothes shopping for Raven, and catch up on the rest of the bills. That's about it though.

At least I will have that monkey off my back.

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In other news, I adopted a second soldier yesterday. This one is actually a Marine. I was having a difficult time figuring out exactly where he's from, but I think that I will have better luck with the packages this time. He did leave some comments for me as to what he needs and wants. I think I am going to become very familiar with NASCAR by the time his deployment is over. hehehe...

I've sent him a card in the mail today introducing myself. Those are always the hardest. Really, no one wants to hear about my boring life. I mean truly that is why I joined Soldiers' Angels in the first place. So that my life would be a little less boring. If you are wondering, yes, it worked. Or is working. I have something to tell people now. Something that isn't just "I work, I go home, I take care of my daughter." I LOVE being an Angel.

They still need more volunteers to become Angels. If you are interested, please visit www.soldiersangels.org and sign up. There are teams you can join if you don't want to adopt a soldier. When I have been there for six months I will be eligible to join a few of the other teams, like the Angel Bakers team. I love to make cookies, cupcake and all sorts of other treats. When I'm there for two years, I will be eligible to join the K-9 team. I don't want to spread myself too thin, so we'll see what happens.

Ok, that is my public service announcement for the day. :)


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Everything else in my life is going pretty good. I still need to get motivated to get my apartment cleaned up. AND, I really need to invest in a writing desk. I've got paper, post cards, other cards, envelopes, and stamps just in a huge pile on my tiny computer desk, and it's a total mess. I can't hardly find anything and things keep falling off the table. It's really lame.

Now if I could get my laundry done and get motivated to get everything else clean I would be all set. I guess I've got the spring cleaning bug a bit early this year. I think I'll take a whole two days and just get it done. And find time to continue to run.


I'm going to be busy for a while I think.


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How'd You Get Your Name?

Every so often I get a few people who ask me about the origin of Onyx of DarkLite. It's a weird name, it's a lame name, it's just so strange! I say yes to all, but it's a name that has stuck with me throughout the last several years.

It all started in Sacramento when I sang karaoke. Without giving my name away, I'll just say that whenever I would get up to sing, people mocked me by singing a song that I absolutely hate. So, I changed to Onyx. It's my favorite stone (see my favorites page) and the name of my first black cat that I had in high school. It isn't a very common name and I knew that I would always be the only "Onyx" to sing karaoke. It's worked well for me so far.

"of DarkLite" This stems from my promoting days in Reno. The promoting company that Raven's biodad and I started was called DarkLlite Promotions. Hence the Onyx of DarkLite. We promoted goth/industrial nights and live bands as well as hosting innumerable parties at our house. Those were the days!

Of course, I no longer do any promoting. I don't even live in Reno anymore, and most people here don't call me Onyx, which is fine, but for anonymity I still use it when I sing karaoke, because I swear to the powers that be if I ever hear that song again, I'm going to choke someone!

Ok, there you have it. The mystery is solved. I hope that you found that educational. Next question? Ask me anything within reason and I'll answer. Just leave a comment below. Oh, remember, this is a family site, so keep it PG-13. Thanks!


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Good morning faithful readers. All three of you. hehe... Well, here I am again with more chaotic ramblings.

The last few days have been pretty good. On Tuesday I worked, which sucked, but we've all got to do that, right? Actually, work is ok for the most part, just not very challenging anymore.

Yesterday was filled with all sorts of adventures. I walk/jogged my first day of C25K. See my other blog for more info on that. Afterward Raven and I went to Bella's Grove and dropped of my PC so that an acquaintance of mine could take a look at it. I hope that all it needs is a power supply. That shouldn't be too hard to come by or replace. Wish me luck on that. I hope that at the very least I will have enough oomph in it to save the pictures that are on it from last year. Everything else is replaceable.

The visit at Bella's Grove turned out to be irritating. There is a girl who frequents there, whom I will call....Loxie... and I cannot stand her. Loxie has this irritating need to be the center of attention everywhere. Usually I don't want to hug her, touch her or be near her. I didn't want to look like a total bitch yesterday, so I gave her a hug. Gah! Things were fine for a while after that. I spent most of my time talking to another friend who was there.

Loxie just had to push my pet peeve button. No one but me raises their voice to Raven. If I think she's doing something wrong, then I will say so. No one else. Now, that's not to say that I am against other people warning her of things that are not right. I really don't have eyes in the back of my head after all. But getting mad at Raven for being a kid is not something I tolerate well, and I told Loxie as much when she got upset at her for nothing, really. That was just the start of the irritating events of yesterday.

Loxie must not have been getting enough of the attention because she decided to bring one of her cell calls to speaker phone. I won't get into the specifics of the call, but I will say that the entire thing was completely inappropriate. If this friend of Loxie's really needed help, Loxie could have have gone to the one that she really wanted to talk to privately and not dragged the rest of us into a pointless conversation.

Loxie's friend really sounded like she was high as a kite, and I told Loxie that the friend should stay off the drugs. Then Loxie accuses me of calling her friend a druggie, which I didn't, but I wasn't the only one to make that judgement about her friend. First impressions are a bitch, aren't they!

I really wanted to send Loxie a message letting her know exactly how I feel about her, but I don't want to that come off as ...weak. I have a hard time formulating spoken words instantly. Usually my written words come out more eloquent. What I really want to say to her is that I don't like her; her energy is one that irritates me to no end, and there is a reason why I don't want her touching me, not even for a pinky shake. Who the hell does that anymore anyway? I would also tell her that she is extremely obnoxious and that I'm not the only person who feels that way. She is difficult to be around and it is frustrating that she feels the need to always be the center of attention. Even Raven is not THAT bad. There are other ways to get noticed than being in someone's face like that all the time. And, I know this. I used to be just like her when I was younger until someone set me straight, to my face, that I was irritation, annoying, and that was why no one wanted to be around me. Perhaps I will send a letter to her or talk to her about it. I don't want to crush anyone's spirit, but she needs to know about her irritating personality. And that she should never try to hug me again.

If that makes me cold, so be it.

After we left Bella's Grove (upset and irritated) Raven and I went to get some dinner and then to home. After dinner I put on some music and finished some post cards that I am sending to other Angels for their projects. I got the stack of mail together and dropped it off at the front desk of work this morning. It makes me feel good to do things like that for other people.

Raven fell asleep rather early last night, so I got her jammies on and put her to bed. I stayed up to watch Vacancy which is comparable to Psycho on steroids. I love horror movies, and it was just as freaky this time around as it was the first time. Perhaps that's just me.

Raven woke up after that and wasn't tired. Go figure. It was about 10pm. So I thought we could use a "feel good" movie after all that horror. I put on Disney's Sword in the Stone, and about halfway through I couldn't stay up any longer. I left Raven to put herself to sleep, which she does rather well on these occasions. She woke up today with no issues at all, and actually woke herself up. That's rare, even on days I get to sleep in.

I've been thinking more about signing up for that certificate program for event/wedding planning. I just need to figure out how I can fit the payments into my budget. The course is accredited, but I don't think that there would be any grants or scholarships available for something like this. I don't know. Perhaps I will check into it. I just know that along with the physical changes I am trying to make, I also want to make career changes as well. I do not want to be stuck in this office forever doing mind-numbing work for the rest of my life. I know I can do better.

I think that's it for the ramblings today. As always, thanks for reading. Please subscribe and also do not miss my C25K blog. There's a link at the top of the right hand column.

Remember that you are judged by the company you keep. No matter how good of a person you might actually be.


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Garden, Lunch, Cards and Cats

The last few days have been great. I had them off from work, so that automatically made them awesome.

On Sunday I spent a few hours in the afternoon with the Magickal Harvest meetup group. Basically, it is a group for garden lovers. There were tons of books on the table and a lot of great ideas were thrown around. Mostly, we sat around and chatted about most everything except gardening. It was really fun. I think I was one of the only ones to actually plan out my garden, but I had already planned it out a few months ago. I did add a few new things, though, and I think that I will have room for just about everything I want to plant. The center piece will still be the butterfly bush that I will be training into a tree and white Shasta daises around the base. That will be really gorgeous. Pictures to come, of course!

Among the other veggies and plants will be the Asters that are already planted, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, corn, beans, squash, snap peas that will grow up one side of the gardena arch, and a few other nice flower varieties that have yet to be determined. Oh, and marigolds that will line the front as a sort of "wall" against too many bugs.

Monday was really a great day as well. I dropped off Raven with a friend for a few hours while I went to lunch with a guy. Now, before I go any further, I'd like to say that I don't do the whole lunch date very often. It is hard for me to meet people, mostly due to my schedule at work, and lack of a sitter most times. Ok, so moving forward.

Lunch was fabulous. I got the name of the restaurant wrong, but thankfully, he got to the right place. It had been a long time since I had been in Nampa, so I was just grateful to get it right. I will tell you that I was nervous. After a a bit of chatting, though, I calmed down and everything went smoothly. I did manage to spill a noodle on my shirt (gah!), but even that wasn't too terrible. We talked about things we have in common like previous employers and horror movies. It was really nice. I hope to see him again some time soon.

After lunch, Raven and I went to get the cards and post cards that we had promised to other Angels for their soldiers and some for my soldiers as well. I have one of those membership things at Hallmark, and I think this is one that I will be putting to good use. Thankfully, they also have Idaho post cards, so I stocked up on those. I think they are cheaper at Walgreens, but they don't have as great a selection as Hallmark does.

On the way home I realized that we hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, so we turned around and went to Winco. Most of the stuff I got was for the boxes for my soldiers. I am sending a care package to my adopted soldier and another one to a soldier I got through my LWT team. He had requested some extra stuff, and even though I know I am not obligated to send a care package, I decided that it would be a great thing to do. His box is filled with mini care packs of mouthwash, laundry soap, lotion, toothpaste, and deodorant, things like that. Along with those is a box of cookies and a box of Cheez-its that were specifically requested. I hope the like it. I'm not done packing these boxes yet. I think I'll find some good magazines to squeeze in there as well.

After finally getting home from the grocery store and putting everything away, I finally got to take a breather from the day. Raven played her V-tech game thing and I made dinner and we watched a few movies. I wrote the cards and post cards and Raven colored a picture and so all is ready to go out today. I think I'll run to the post office during lunch and eat my salad when I get back. Yeah, yesterday was a great day.

Now, if only I can get motivated like that to get Raven's room cleaned. Well, actually....

I have been pondering Raven's longstanding request for a cat. Now, she not just wants a cat, she wants an orange cat and wants to name it Ponytail. Yeah, yay for 5-year-olds. So, upon pondering this I told her that if she cleaned her room and kept it clean that we would get a cat. In order to motivate her into this we took a side trip to PetCo to look at the cats they have for adoption. They had some black cats and a few grey cats and at the bottom of the cages sat a HUGE orange and white cat named Munster. She loved that cat. It was the perfect cat for her. It is orange and it's not a kitten, but it's not too old, either. I could totally go for that cat although my favorite color of cat is black. But, this cat isn't for me, really, so I'll go with this orange one. It was beautiful. It might not be up for adoption when we are able to go back, and if not, we'll wait until a new one becomes available.

I just can't wait until her rooms gets cleaned......

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Another Lonely Day to Think About the Past

It's Saturday, but you probably guessed that from the date above, eh? Well, for me Saturdays are long and boring. I work 12 hours on Saturdays. It really wouldn't need to be that way if they would hire one more person in my department. All of us are tired of working the very long hours that we put in. Believe me, having three days off during the week is little consolation for putting in a ten, two nines and a twelve. I blog a lot on Saturdays on various websites that I have blogs on. This one is my most recent excursion into the blogging world. Anyway, I digress.

I've been in this position at work for...about ten months or so. I've been with this company almost two years, wow, has it been that long already? I will admit that the longest job I ever had lasted just about two years if I remember right. I usually get bored with a job and move on to something more challenging or different. This job is no exception, but with the economy the way it is, I really don't have the option of just picking up and changing jobs. I really want to though.

I may have written about this in an earlier blog, but I have gotten some information about getting my certificate in event/wedding planning, and I am really considering it. I have always been pretty good at planning events and parties, so why not just do it. I have it in the back of my mind that I just might be able to make something out of that, even if it starts out as a part time thing while I keep my mind-numbing, boring job just to make sure Raven and I don't starve to death. It could work.

Along with that, I have thought about putting together a '50s themed sock hop to help raise some money for Bella's Grove and/or the Soldiers' Angels. Not sure exactly the logistics on that, but either way, it would be fun, no? Soda fountain, jukebox, poodle skirts, leather jackets, do wop, the possibilities are numerous. It would even be fun to get a live do wop cover band or something. I'll have to check into that.

Mostly, I just miss planning parties and being out there in the thick of things. The memories of Dark Garden remain so vivid, and I cannot ignore them. I will admit that the group we had was not a huge one, but for the most part it was a lot of fun. I will never forget the last major theme night we did... The Broken Hearts Industrial Valentine's Night. Or some long name to that effect.. lol.. My friend, whom I'll call DMLover, helped me with the decorations and everything was so beautiful. People actually played the game I had come up with. It was awesome.

Those were the days, though my parents never could understand why I did the promoting. They always said I spent too much money, but my retort was that hobbies are often expensive, and that is what it was for me...a hobby and something I loved. I stopped for the most part after Raven was born. Five years later and I really want to get back into doing events, perhaps not on the goth/industrial level that I did before as Boise already has a very strong promoter, and I am not in the habit of stepping on toes like that, but something. I'll find a good niche.



Why shouldn't I do that again.......

A Blast From the Past/Sample of what I used to do.... Yes, I realize that some of the pictures don't work, but the site hasn't been updated since 2006.. lol.. That seems like yesterday, really.

Anyway, those are my chaotic ramblings for now...


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Babble on!

Work today is going to be Hell on Earth. Not so much that I'll get in trouble for anything, as that is rather difficult to do, but when numbers get low, or stats start to drop, that's when the higher ups are looking at my department saying, "What's going on?" First thing in the morning I walked into a service level that is below 80% and even farther down that than. All I can do is go on from here and try to manipulate the numbers as best as I can.

Other than that, today should be fine.

In other ramblings, I haven't gotten any new members to my new hooping group, but that's ok. It can be tough to get people to join a group, especially one where one might have to have a specific type of email address to join. I don't know if that is specifically the case with yahoo groups, but I chose yahoo because it is something that I am familiar with. Sure, I could find the groups section on Facebook, but it is outside my comfort zone for right now. Perhaps if the yahoo group bombs, I'll look to moving to Facebook.

Now, I do know that there are other hoopers in Boise, and even a few teachers here and there. Sweet, fine, good. I have yet to catch wind of anyone doing freestyle hoop jams either at home or at one of the thousand parks in town. That's where my group comes in. I do hope that it explodes into something really great. If not, the no worries. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I am also excited about starting school again real soon. I think I might have mentioned this before, but perhaps not. I will be going back to school to get my certificate as an event/wedding planner. I have always enjoyed throwing parties, and handle the stress fairly well. I just think of what I could do with someone else's budget. hehe...but seriously, I have always wanted my own business, and I think that I could make this work, even in the economy we live in. Wish me luck!

I haven't quite gotten back in to the swing of things at work. I have a regular schedule that is somewhat irregular and hasn't been steady since the schedule changed. Either I'm out of town or one of my two co-workers are out of town or a day needs switching or something like that. There are only three of us in our department, so we have to be flexible as possible like that. No matter. I would just like to get back into some sort of routine.

When's my next vacation??

I am planning to see Raven's biofreak in April. I hope to be gone for 12 or 13 days. It takes a good 17 hours or so to drive down there, so I will probably break that up into two days. Or, perhaps not. I don't know just yet. What I do know is that I will be getting my ipod (or some other mp3 player) replaced as well as my tape deck fixed or replaced. I am NOT going to make that drive with no music to speak of. Oh, and I think I'll upgrade my cell phone to something that actually gets a signal farther out than ten miles away from any one city. Sheesh, that last trip was rough. It has been forever since I've been to Southern California, and the one time I did go, I promised myself I wouldn't ever go back. Perhaps this time will be different. I am looking forward to it.

Ok, I'm out for now. I'll write more, as I have not much else to do.


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A new Hooping Community

Ok, so we aren't exactly reinventing the wheel for hooping in Boise, but I dare say that the hoopers out there are rather quiet, so I have taken it upon myself to start a new yahoo group.  It's free, to begin with, and I think that with the group of beginners we do have, it will be a place to make some new friends as we learn, together, the art of hoop dancing.  I am still a beginner and learning new tricks as we go, and I know there are a lot of people in my area that want to learn, but not necessarily in a class environment which can sometimes be overwhelming.

I'm not a teacher, but I do think that we can have some fun while we learn together.  Below is the button for joining my new group.  If you are in Boise and want to come hoop with us, feel free to join up.  If you are advanced and are looking for a group to hoop with, feel free to join up.  We will be honored by any information you wish to share. :)

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Hope to see you out at our first hoop jam!

The Journey

I've been hashing over how I want to post what will likely be a very long blog.  I suppose I'll go by day, that will make things easier.  I really didn't have access to a computer while I was away, and the one that my dad and stepmom have is even more archaic than the one I have at home, that died while I was away.

Tuesday: The Drive

Instead of leaving at noon like I thought I would, I left at 8 am.  If anyone has ever driven the 95 from Idaho to the Nevada state line, you know that Oregon needs to catch up with the rest of the country and for humanity's sake raise the speed limit to at least 65 mph.  55 mph made me feel like I was stuck in a time warp in more ways than one.  The drive itself is a pretty one if you like high desert beauty, but for me it was really boring especially with no music.  There are no radio stations anywhere between here and Reno, not even in Winnemucca that I could find.  But, I finally got to Reno without major difficulty, not even a flat tire.  Actually, knock on wood, I've never had a flat tire while traveling.

Tuesday: The Visit

I arrived in Reno around 3pm local time and let me tell you, I was excited to see the Biggest Little City again.  Actually, let me back track just a bit.  On the way to Reno, there is a small.... hamlet, for lack of a better word, called Lockwood.  I have a friend whom we'll call Turtle, that lives there.  I stopped by on the off chance that she was still living there, and there was no mistaking her decor on the outside of her home.  Faerie doors, gnomes, wind chimes.. oh yes, she still lived there.  She wasn't home, so I left her a note with my dad's phone number.  I knew I wouldn't get any cell service where he lived.

So, upon arriving to the "city", I went to visit some friends, Nick, Rachel and Jacob who is an ex-boyfriend, but still my best friend.  Rachel wasn't home, and unfortunately, I didn't get to see her my entire trip.  More about that later.  Nick and Jacob were doing really good as far as I could tell.  They were living in the same apartment complex and paying what I thought was way too much rent for what they had.  It really makes me glad that I live where I do because even with paying water, sewer and trash, I still pay over $100 less than they do.  I would like to have a full basement, but I can wait until I get a house for that.  It was really great to see Jacob again, he looked like he was really happy with his fiance whom I did not get to meet.  I was also relieved to see a lot of my stuff that was sentimental that survived the move like a glass bottle with ornate designs that was given to me by another really good friend from Sacramento, and the 3-piece pub set.  Not that I was the set back, but I will definitely get the bottle back eventually.  Why didn't I get it back while I was there you say?  Not sure.

Tuesday Night: Dad's house

My dad has been building a house out in Dry Valley for the last 7 years or so.  He's been building it by himself for the most part and taking his time in doing so.  He's almost finished and what he has done is really beautiful.  It is a two car garage, 2-bedroom, 2.25 bathroom home with an office for my stepmom and the most awesome Master bathroom (when it gets finished) that I've ever seen.  He lives on ten acres out in the middle of nowhere outside Reno.  They get no cell service, but they do have wild cottontail bunnies that come for carrots twice a day.  We got to throw them some on Wednesday morning.

My dad and I don't have the best relationship.  He constantly thinks I need saving or something.  I made sure to clean up my car before I left, which got messy again because of everything I packed and the garbage from munchies on the way, but for the most part it looked presentable.  He always wants to make sure that I have good brakes and things like that, which is fine, but when I tell him that I am going to replace the two other tires that I didn't replace when I did the first two because I didn't have the money, he said that he would pay to have them replaced.  But I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

Wednesday:  The Other Friends

I had this whole day before the actual funeral, which I'll get to later. On this day I decided to go back and visit Jacob as we had made lunch arrangements the previous day, but when I got there, he didn't answer his door.  I heard the tv on, but after five minutes of ringing the door bell and knocking, I decided that he wasn't home after all.  Instead, I walked around down town for a while.

I had every intention of going by the Brickhouse Bakery because they have the best treats in the state, but to my dismay, they had been replaced with some hoity toity wine bar.  As I was walking around downtown I noticed that a lot of the places I used to visit had either been closed down or replaced with something else.  It was actually very depressing, and it was already a depressing trip.

After sending off the stuff for my soldiers, including several Reno post cards, I decided to visit some other friends that I've known since the days of Dark Garden.  I knew they still lived in the same house because of all the gargoyles on the porch.  It was a welcome sight.  I knocked on the door and Adam answered and the look on his face was priceless.  He immediately got off his cell phone and we talked for quite a few hours.  We played Rock Band, which was my first time, now I MUST go out and get a system for myself.  Darn him!  Raven was out at my dad's house this whole time, so I could get some alone time for myself.  I had an awesome day.  I left their place around 5:30 pm so that I could be out to the house for dinner.  It takes an hour to get there from town.  My brother was driving out for dinner that night so I didn't want to miss it.

Meatloaf isn't my favorite dish in the world, but my stepmom makes it pretty good, I'll admit.  It was really great to see my brother, too.  We had made plans to spend some time together on Saturday night as well, so that story will be coming up later.

Thursday: The Funeral

Family here, family there, family everywhere.  Most of which I could have done without seeing.  Some of my family members have what I lovingly refer to as dissociative disorder.  A few of them shed no tears whatsoever during the service, but then what would one expect from a doctor.   My dad, on the other hand cried more than he ever had in his life, to my knowledge.  He now only has one sister left.  His parents are now gone as well as an older sister.  The sister who is left and he get along as well as any siblings, I suppose.

I got there really early, even after having stopped by the store to pick up three red roses.  My cousin, Chris, was there is full military get up.  My cousin, by marriage, Dean also dressed in his military finest.  Chris had a surprise for all the blood cousins, though.  When we were younger, my grandmother would offer us things to drink, lemonade usually, or water, and we always used these metal cups, probably because they couldn't break, and plastic really hasn't been invented yet...lol... anyway, Chris showed up with these metal cups and we all got to take one home with us.  We ALL remembered those metal cups. Chris had the pink one engraved with all the cousins' names and it was really beautiful.  It went in the coffin with Grandma.  It was really touching and made me cry on the inside.

I never realized how many people knew and loved my grandmother.  She was a member of the Rainbow Sisters, or something to that effect and a Daughter of the Nile.  Both of those groups came forward to do a funeral rite during the service.  The pastor, or father, or minister, or whatever he was, did the eulogy, and it was really beautiful.  The inside lid of her coffin even had the Navy seal.  She was proud of the word she did in the Navy.

The microphone was passed around at one point for anyone who wanted to say something.  I didn't say anything because I really didn't have anything to say, but Chris did, and he told the same story he did at our grandfather's funeral which was good the first time around, but I couldn't believe he would recycle that same story.  No matter, at least someone said something.

The family went to the grave site, which wasn't where she was actually going to be buried, probably because there was a tree in the way, so no chairs could be set up there.  My grandmother was to be buried between her husband and her mother, both sites of which were covered by a green tarp awaiting the burial of Grandma.  The roses I purchased were for all three of them. Once for each.  I ended up putting two on Grandma's coffin, and Raven put on on there as well because I thought I wouldn't be able to get to Grandpa's or Gram's headstones.  I did, though, so I put a rose on each and left one on Grandma's coffin to be buried with her.  I was the only one in our family to bring flowers for the other ancestors.  Sad, really....

I cried.... a lot.

Friday: Fixing the Car

Ok, so as I mentioned earlier, my dad is always making sure that I have something safe to drive.  His goal was to make sure that my brakes had enough pad on them and that my fluids were topped off and the oil changed.  Upon checking the oil, he noticed that it looked pretty good.  I wouldn't tell him, but it's because I checked it before I left and noticed that it was two quarts low.  *gasp*  My car doesn't really burn oil that much, but I hadn't checked it in months.  Shame on me.

He also noticed that my tires in the back looked like they could use a change.  The fronts ones are brand new by three months, because I was getting ready to take a trip to Southern California, and wanted to make sure that I had good tires for the trip.  I hadn't the money to change the other tires just yet.  Dad helped me get two new tires.  Now, I'm set for my trip.  He also changed out all my brakes, which didn't really need it, but I don't think I could have gotten back down in six months when they did, so, he decided to do it while I was there.  Now, with a little luck, I'll be able to go another two years without needing to change them out.  Oh, and my steering wheel doesn't shudder anymore.  *happy dance*

Needless to say, I didn't get to visit anyone in town.  I had made plans to see Rachel and Jacob because of the plans that fell through on Wednesday.  Now, I just hung out at the house and watched tv, played Spider Solitaire and hooped for a bit.  It was really nice outside, and hooping in the fresh air, and I do mean FRESH air, was really relaxing.  Fresh air you say.. what's that?  Well, there is no visible smog in the area, not like town.  Every home is on at least ten acres and some plots haven't been purchased yet, and well the traffic out there is sparse at best. So, no smog and fresh air.

Saturday:  The Comedy Club

I was going into town on Saturday to spend time with Adam and Candice because I wasn't going to let another plan go broken.  I had arranged for my dad and stepmom to watch Raven that night because my brother and I were going to spend some time together.  But first, the visit with Adam and Candy.  When I got there, they were getting ready to do some gaming, which I already knew before I got there, with another friend of theirs and a newcomer who hadn't shown up yet.  The afternoon was really good.  Raven played with Khail, their son, and life was good.  I even managed to talk them into watching Raven for me so that I wouldn't have to drive an hour out to my dad's house then an hour back into town just to go visit my brother.  I traded that favor by providing pizza for everyone.  It was a fair trade, in my opinion.

While we were waiting for pizza, we played more Rock Band, and they broadcast it live on one of their webcam channels.  I think we got a whole 7 viewers.  LOL... one of the viewers said that we'd get more people watching if I took my shirt off, but hey, it's a family show.  Perhaps next time. lol...  Then the time came to leave Raven there and go see my brother.

My brother, whom I'll just call Joe,  had purchased tickets to Catch a Rising Star, the comedy club inside the Silver Legacy.  I had been there a few times before although I couldn't begin to tell you who we saw.  It was a while back.  The comedians were funny.  I forget who the opening act was, but the headliner was Cory Rodrigues.  Very funny guy.  If you get the chance to see him, definitely do.

Afterward, we played some black jack and some slots.  Before the show, my brother won $70 on a quarter machine.  More than enough to pay for the tickets.  I was glad of that.  I lost a few bucks on a penny machine.  During our black jack stint, I came close to losing the whole $20 that I was brave enough to gamble. (Not all at once because I'm not THAT brave)  In the end, I doubled my $20 and I knew enough to get out of dodge.  The dealer had the personality of a wet mop, but I left her a few bucks anyway.

On the way back to the parking garage, we ran into an old acquaintance, Doc Cheatum.  That is his stage name.  I actually have no clue what his real name is.  He's an up close magician working mostly with cards inside the Silver Legacy.  He's been there since the day it opened almost 16 years ago.  He had some of the same tricks and several new tricks that worked wonderfully.  He has an awesome personality.  He was almost done with his set and afterwards we talked for a good while.  He asked me how I was doing, you know the normal stuff.

He also gave me some really great advice.  I won't go into the details here, but in the end it made me cry and realize that I wasn't doing the things I needed to do to get my life where I wanted to be.  I know what I want to do with my life, but I have those fears, the same as anyone else.  I am just going to do it, though.  Yes, I will!

Crashed at Adam and Candy's house that night because I didn't feel like driving all the way out to the house.  It wasn't THAT late, but late enough that I didn't feel like driving.  I didn't sleep very well that night, but then, I didn't sleep very well at all while I was in Reno.  I thought perhaps it was the time change, but as it turned out, I just didn't sleep well.

Sunday: The Drive Home

I woke up really early that morning.  I didn't sleep very well at all.  I woke up Raven and left a note for Adam and Candy as they were up late and I knew they wouldn't be up for several hours.  We went to breakfast at Denny's and when we were done it had started to snow.  I thought that I would need to leave lest I get stuck in Reno and miss work on Tuesday.  I drove out to my dad's house and on the way it started snowing harder.  I could tell that it had already been snowing for a while because the snow had been sticking to the non-paved ground for a while.  Out towards my dad's house, it wasn't that bad, and had all but stopped.  I felt a little better, but still wanted to get on the road in case it started again.

I ended up having to cancel my plans with Turtle although I wasn't able to call her.  I felt bad about having to stand her up, but as it turned out, her daughter had a fever and wasn't going to be able to keep the plans anyway.  She left me that message on facebook.

I did manage to see Carmen on the way home, though.  She met me in Fernley, which is on the way home, and we had lunch.  We talked about everything it seemed.  It was so great to see her again.  I didn't want to leave, but I knew that it would be midnight before I got home and that was IF the weather held out long enough to me to actually get home in one night.

It turned out that the drive home was even more boring that the drive there.  I did get the pleasure of setting my cruise control to 55 mph, again, and watch as people zoomed by me.  I thought to myself that they are going to get to where they are going a whole 15 minutes before me, but then I wasn't going to give the Oregon highway patrol a reason to pull me over.  Like they did the red van who passed me sometime around 7 pm.  Yeah, that was satisfying.  It made me realize that my 55 mph wasn't in vain.

Before I left, I stopped by my brother's house to get some stuff that I had left behind.  I was under the impression that I only had about four boxes left and the rest went to storage.  As it turned out I had twice that many boxes left as well as my hope chest.  I was really excited to see some of the stuff that remained.  Old softball team pictures from when I was a kid, blankets that my mother had made, books, and my punch fountain.  I am really excited about that!  Also, all the blogs that I had written on myspace and printed out (about 600 blogs at the time) were in one of the boxes.  I am so happy about that.  Now I just need a hole punch and a binder.  I am happy about that.  I shall have to go back and read some of the entries at some point.  There are other things that were saved that are still in Reno because of course I didn't have the room to get everything.  I will stop by and get the stuff on my way back from my California trip in April.  I'll make sure to leave more room next time.

The trip was a great success.  I haven't had a visit with my dad as good as that in a very long time.  There were times when he made me feel like I wasn't good enough, but then, he does that every time.  This time I didn't let it get that bad and even stood up for myself a few times.  He always seems to have a reason why I shouldn't do something.. like the trip to Southern California... it will just put more wear on the tires than need be.  Yeah?  Well I love to travel.  I'm not going to let that stop me.  I was going to get the other pair of tires replace anyway.

The one thing I found that we had in common was gardening, but he told me that I shouldn't grow veggies because it would be cheaper to buy them in the market than pay for the water, etc. to grown them myself.  I am going to do it anyway, because I pay for water as it is, and it's not that expensive here.  And, I will be able to have my own organic veggies and some beautiful flowers as well.  In fact, I went yesterday and picked up a bunch of seeds, but decided to put them back because even though they were 30% off, it was a little much for me to spend right at this moment.  At any rate, I am tired of him usually coming up with a reason why I shouldn't do something instead of being positive and encouraging.  He did have a lot of tips for gardening for me, though, which was good.  I'm not growing all flowers, though.  I'll be mixing veggies and flowers and make the plot really good looking.  It's not that big, but I figure I'll be able to do a lot with what I do have.

Ok, I think that's it for my blog about my trip.  Over all it was a really awesome trip.  I look forward to posting pictures just as soon as my computer either gets fixed or replaced.  Fixed would be better.  Now comes the daunting task of cleaning my apartment.  I haven't seen it this atrocious since I first moved in.  I have been telling myself that I will clean Raven's room for a long time now, and haven't.  Now the rest of the place looks the same.  Heaven help me please.....

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