Rolling along ... (or What the Heck Did the Aliens Do Now?)

19:30

Well, just one more day to get things spic and span and ready to rock. I've only got a few more things to do to get things all clean. A couple of things ... that I could have finished this afternoon if my "break" hadn't taken until supper! LOL! Ah, well ... I got a lot done. Including finally cleaning the guest bathroom. It's all pretty now. Maybe I'll be restless this evening and get the rest done tonight ... like the dusting. I'll save floors until tomorrow morning. AFTER Dona has dropped her bread crumbs, etc all over it. Yeah, that's the ticket. Save me some work. ;)

I've managed to unpack more boxes too ... AND, somehow, managed to find places to put it all. There's still a few boxes out on the floor in the back bedroom, but now that there is FLOOR in the closet, ^_^ I'll be able to hide them.

Jade and I need to go through our stuff and decide what to do with the book doubles. We're already starting to weed out our duplicate comic titles. (Sorry, Shepherd) And soon we'll be able to take a lovely assortment down to the Wee Book Inn. Anything that they don't want goes to the Bissell Centre or some other thrift shop. Everything else will go through a garage sale process ... and then to the Bissell centre, etc. Sounds good doesn't it? Organised even ...

Wonder if it'll happen? LOL!

I had lunch with Lynne on Tuesday. It felt nice - but short. She's finally got a new car and I almost fainted when I saw that it was an automatic. Lynne's a shift-girl ... she plans on getting a standard next year. I'm just impressed that she can afford to get this car as a single mom. She's worked very hard to get where she is. All she had to do to get started was get rid of the trash that was weighing her down. She's managed to get rid of most of it ... (No, I'm not talking about her weight, although she's lost alot of that too!)

She's coming to my Yule dinner with her boyfriend. Heh ... I finally get to meet him and it'll be on my own turf. I hear he's nervous. ;) She's bringing another friend along too. I'm supposed to "love" him. O.o! We'll find another way of phrasing that for Jade.

I still can't believe that people are getting all huffy about "Merry Christmas". So you aren't Christain ... so what? Accept that some people are and that they will say Christian things (either out of habit or because they believe) to wish you the best. It's rude to refuse good wishes with some of the negativity I've been hearing. If you follow another religion, simply respond with the equivalent. If they say 'Merry Christmas' ... respond with 'Happy Hannakah' or 'Blessed Yule', or 'Happy Holidays' or whatever ... or even better ... say 'Thank you'. Will this kill anybody?

Why are we trying to make everybody happy all at once by removing all religion out of everything happy? You don't like that all the stories are about Jesus or Santa? Share your stories with us. You don't like all the "churchy' music? Play your own. Keep in mind though that at one point in history (one very LONG point in history) the only music being written was Church music. It was the only music that you were allowed to write ... that's why there is so much of it and why some of it sounds so great ... because all the great writers in history were writing it instead of creating original works outside of the religious context. How many times has a kid been told by their parents that the lyrics to a song is found offensive by a parent ... and the kid has replied that he only listens to the music ... not the words. Why can't you do that with carols? Make up your own words and get a copy of yourself singing karaoke.

Don't just bitch about it all. Do something to solve the problem. Only lazy people bitch about something 'til they are blue in the face instead of making something comfortable and acceptable. Get over it. Stop adding to the global warming that's already in effect.

There is no 'One True Way'. Each person has their own path that they must search for, and find, on their own, to be happy. If everybody was meant to travel the same path, we wouldn't have Religion. We'd just have Faith. Accept that others are different and that it's possible that neither of you are wrong ... you'll be happier!

Speaking of effort ... it's official. Yes, sex can be considered an exercise. You can not only lose weight with it, but you can increase your cardio, clean your pores, prevent cavities, and raise your spirits all at the same time. All the more reason to do it regularly. Single? No excuse. Just ask my brother.

I've quite a good start on my SM story ending now. I shouldn't have waited so long to finish it, although I don't know when I could have done it sooner. Still, I'm not going to rush it. I've received quite a few fantastic compliments for it and I don't want to slough off with a shoddy ending just to get it over with. That's just plain rude to my faithful readers. I'd be letting down them and myself. I've got standards.

I've had a couple people claim I was nuts to try and have this dinner on a Friday, but I figured that it was the day after Yule, and with it being the weekend before Christmas, everybody might have those nights spoken for already. There's going to be lots of food. I've always been good about that, no matter what kind of a gathering I've put together. I've had candle parties where people came for the food and then left. I could make it a buffet instead of a dinner, but it's not that kind of ham ... *sigh* ... I'll think of something. There will be nine of us so maybe I'm worrying too much about the food. Ten, if my brother shows up. Eleven if he brings a girl with him. (Not sure if he's still on the same girlfriend or not.)

I've finally been in contact with family in New Brunswick!! They've helped me add quite a bit of info to my family tree - which is a relief because nobody here wants to tell me anything. It's ridiculous. The not talking thing, that is. Every question has been answered with "We're not a close family" ... Well, now we know WHY!! Idjits. Anyway, the new connection has made me so happy. (Which, in turn, made Jade happy too. So now everybody is happy.) I'll be responding right away. In writing. On paper. My "cousin's" (haven't worked out the relationship yet) handwriting is SO beautiful ... makes me wish that schools cared more about penmanship. My writing isn't that messy, but hers makes mine look downright shoddy.

Congratualtions to Elohelae and Lola's Girl on their new, upcoming LolaBean! What have you decided to name your newest edition to the baseball team? Makes me jealous. Not that I want Elohelae's baby ... I just want one! To keep!

Lynne said that I seemed content to not be married, but that, if Colbat was ever agreeable, she'd love to get married. Whoa. Was this reverse psycho-babble? Who said I was content to not be married? Who was it that used to swear up and down that she'd never get married again because love doesn't really exist? Hello? Twighlight Zone? You dropped something ... please come and take it home.

I am not content to remain unmarried. I don't want to be a forever-girlfriend, a common-law wife. I've just stopped bugging Jade about it. Whining about it doesn't make it happen. If it does, great! I'd be ecstatic, really. But if it doesn't, well, it's not something I'm going to allow to interfere with other things that make me happy. I'm not content to be unmarried - I'm content to be with Jade. Period. And he's happy to be with me. He knows it's important to me. When he's ready, it'll happen. And not before. Everybody else in my family that has gotten married is already divorced. Why ruin a good thing? ;)

I need to go read now. Maybe some SM ... maybe some AA:JO. We'll see.

Sweet Dreams!

Going the Distance and Reaching For the Future

09:12

I'm fairly proud of myself today. As of this moring, I have:
- saved 9799.3 sp ft of Rainforest and 1135.5 sp ft of Marine Wetlands
- swum 3.53 km to save our oceans
- supported 99.6 acres of tiger territory, 30.7 acres of Jaguar territory, and 30.9 acres of Snow leopard territory
- fed 233 pieces of fruit to hungry primates
- supported needy children for 122 days (that's helping one child a day)
- supported 133 needy pets
- sent 366 letters against violence against women
- and taken 3000 steps to reach the Sumit of Mt Shasta for breast cancer. (Actually, I reached the summit a long time ago, but I'm still walking ...)

That's an awful lot of work to shove into about 2 - 3 minutes of my morning. If anybody would like to join my team for any of this, or if you'd like to try it out on your own, please write to me and I'll send you the info.

So, my Yule dinner is turning into a larger event than I expected. Aheh. Turns out that my parents are going to make it out and they've asked if they can invite my aunt and uncle over too. I'm going to run out of table space! I'm tryng not to panick just yet though ... nothing has been confirmed with aunt and uncle yet. So far, only three people have responded to my invites and only two of them are coming. So it's still a pretty private affair. We'll see.

My fanfic should be coming to a conclusion soon. And then I can move on to another story or two. I have my original to touch up and add to. I have my D&D based original to get typed out and published. I'm also considering getting my Eberron based Tale For the Finders published with some more story around it. And it's been requested that I start a new fanfic for Beyblade this time.

My thanks to Star for lending me some important DVD's for researching my current story. What a dish, what a doll. Pity you don't have time to read the story itself - you're one of the few people (out of my friends) who would appreciate it.Hmmm ... maybe you should put in a link or create your own space to encourage your customers/fans to write or draw with the incentive/reward of having them "published".

Jill has come to visit again ... stronger and more vibrant than ever. She hasn't been like this in years! Must be the new pills. O.o!! Not sure if this is a good thing or not. We'll wait and see.

I went out and bought new cards for Yule ... but once again, I've missed the deadline for my overseas/out fo the country mailings. *sigh* Every year, I get a little closer ... maybe next year I'll be more oragnised about it. Especially if I have the winter off again.

I've thought a bit more of going to Fairview for more training in my chosen career. I wish I didn't always have to leave town to do it though. This time it would be for a whole year. Could I manage that? Three months in algary almost gave me a nervous breakdown. 'Course there were vastly different circumstances then ... but still ... I don't like being seperated from my loved ones. I'll have to give it a bit more research - like what the accomadations will be like and what the schedule is expected to be. I already know that it will cost a pretty penny ... but I've never been turned down for a student loan. And if I can find out the requirements for getting a grant to start a new business, then I can write the expenses all off in next year's taxes. Okay, most of the expenses. We'll see. that'll be Jade's share of the research. ;) He hasn't said yet how he really feels about the whole idea. I think he was hoping that I could take a course or a learning work experience while living here at home. But there's really nothing here ... anything having to do with animals is in Olds or farther south. You can't even take vet training in Alberta ... You have to go to Saskatchewan, or maybe BC.

We'll see. It's not going to happen tomorrow, whatever it is that I decide to do.

Sweet Dreams!

School Days Revisited

22:22

At last! The garage is organised! ... Sort of. ;) We can get one vehicle in at least. A few more boxes to unpack (and put where??) and a floor to get down to keep things about melting level, a set of shelves, and the walls to finish. See? Almost done!

The second garage is ready for electrical if we can ever get the structural inspector out here. (They sure keep some tight-a$$'d rules about properties out here. Now why can't they keep peoples' dogs' in their yards?? ) The place is really looking up and homey! The previous owner's friend came by to pick up the mail and was just floored - we'd done more in two months than the previous owners had done in 7 years (which we thought was nothing, judging by the state of things) I don't think burning the hide-a-bed counts.

Things are getting extra sensitive with the D&D folk. I was accused of "slagging" on my last entry. 'Slag' ... that's melted/scrap metal ... no, wait! Slag is a Dinobot! The T-Rex, right? What a stupid word. I don't even see how what I said could be termed in the way the accuser is thinking. I said I still had an issue with somebody that I thought I had put behind me. And that somebody had accidentally hurt my feelings, but I knew he didn't mean it. How the dickens is that "slagging"? I can't even tease somebody who uses "I'm getting old" as an excuse for something. Touchy kids. I feel like I've been sucked back into the black hole of high school ... drama everywhere. And nobody tells you there's a problem until they explode over it. Shocked the crap out of me. Why do people let stuff like that fester? You're hurting yourself more than the person you are mad at ... and it always spreads to the others around you, which either leads to people feeding off each other's negativity or making the others just plain uncomfortable.

Yeah, I know I'm as susceptable to high emotions as the next person, but usually only when it catches me by surprise. I caught myself though. No juvenile mud slinging from my end. (The name calling, the threats, the hypocritical You-think-you're-so-great-but-I'm-better-than-you speeches.)

Deliver me.

Anyway, on to other things ... I don't know whether to laugh, to cry or to miss Lynne. She handles the drama better than I do.

Yule shopping is all done. I might get a few more stuffers, but I'm going to try to fight the urge. ;) I never think I have enough and I always end up with LOTS! LOL! I just can't afford it! No more big spending until after December! Otherwise, I'll have to go back to work! (faint scream in the distance) Thank the Goddess, I get an allowance. Heh.

I'm making great headway in my PC D&D game. Too great. I'm going places faster than I'm leveling! LOL! Makes for some interesting scenes! I love these Urghosh locks - orcish locks of great cunning, said to be laced with the vile poison beaten out of a carrion crawler's brain. Few can remove these locks, save expert orc thieves. HAH! To heck with the lock, just blast the box! The lock can go hang!

I just hope I find my great swords soon ... I usually have two by now ... *sigh* I'll also need the Mountain Fist to put the Spring Guardian to rest ... ugh! Golums! and Constructs! Oy!

I think I've found all my disks now and I'll be able to pull up my adventure story that I started to write for Wayne. It's a pity I don't have the stats for the characters that she played with ... I'll have to fudge those when a memory or a reference pops up, I guess. Anyway, I'll be working on that and publishing it online.

Nessa!! I've missed you!

LOL!

Yeah, okay, I'm sleep-drunk. Time for bed ...

Sweet Dreams!