Family Stuff

Tux checking out the box for Grandma V's package

Still feeling under the weather. The ear clogging was pretty bad today. I keep waiting for them to pop so I can maybe hear more clearly, but no such luck. And the cough is back… Yup, the one thing I hate about cold weather and changing seasons: The sinus problems that come with them. What’s funny though, when I was taking Elavil over a year ago for my legs, I didn’t hardly have any sinus problems. Now, I can’t move w/o the pressure building. So yeah, I’ve been fun to live with. And to work with. I feel bad for my family and co-workers.

This morning I sent Hubby out the door with the Youngest. She was off to school and he was off to get his books for school that starts next week. Well, normally Vader is the happiest when he gets Mommy all to himself. This morning was different. I guess he’s gotten too used to Hubby and Youngest being home all the time for the winter break. He howled so mournfully after they left! Poor dear *snuggles puppy*. Hubby figures it was for the Youngest, and he may have howled for her, but you never know. It could have been both of them. I know when I leave, Vader howls like that. I’ve heard him. On the occasion he does it a few times before settling down to pout (the dog has a huge lower lip and very, *very* sappy eyes). He’s very much a pack dog, and prefers to have his pack around. He’s been a bit out of sorts with the Oldest not at home (all of us have, really), and I think Vader was trying to call everyone back to be with him . That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Hubby and I seem to be on the same page with coming up with ideas to do with the Financial Aid and Tax money when they each come in. Bills are obviously #1 on the list, as it has helped tremendously while he’s still unemployed (that should be changing soon, as he moves into his internship for school). Last semester we paid the rent for several months, and intend to do the same again. We also paid several things off, and caught up on a few other things. Then we moved onto the need list. Everybody got some things they needed last semester, and obviously we’re doing the same again. Hubby needs new contacts, as he’s on his last pair. He just needs to make them last till $$$ is in and we’re good. Might even see if we can get them to get him a pair of glasses for back up. Just to be safe. Us girls need a few more clothing items (damn kids don’t know when to stop growing!) and I plan on sending a few things to the Oldest. Then we have the wants list. I think we spent the majority of the money set aside for wants on video games, but I think we have a few other things we’re going to spending it on this time. For one, the Youngest has decided she wants to get her ears pierced.

Now, just to clarify, I have no problem with people who pierce their newborn or infant’s ears, it just was not for me. And no, my own are not pieced. No real desire to, truth be told. I prefer rings and necklaces and bracelets (especially anklets!). Earings have never really done anything for me, and I just saw it as an inconvenience for me. So when the Youngest was born, I asked myself, do I really want to try to keep up with her ears??? Do I want to mess with that? I told myself, no, I don’t. Hubby did want to get it done, but I believe I told him he’d be stuck taking care of them, and not me. He can correct me, it’s been so long now. So, we’re planning on spending some of the money to get them done and get her a few pairs. Her sister already bought her a few pairs, and I can’t wait to see her with them on. They’re very cute faux diamonds, and a few are a light blue color.

Ok, enough of money talk, time for the Girl Scout update! Yay, it’s cookie time! At least it will be next Friday. Next Thursday is the pinning ceremony and the cookie meeting. Tonight it was the girls setting up rules (they are a new troop afterall), snack time, brief cookie talk, and then origami! The girls had more fun trying to get us adults (all four of us) to do it for them! Not sure if it was their thing but they all had fun. While they were doing origami (the Youngest called it quits and started making envelopes!) we began talking about different badges they were going to get with the cookie sales and other things they can do to get other badges. For the cookie sales they all will get one for first time cookie seller, and if they all work a booth (you’ve seen them at Wal-Mart and Lowe’s selling cookies) they get one for that. The third one is one they get by going on-line and setting up a goal for cookie selling. If they meet their goal, they get the badge. I think that badge can also be gotten by setting up any goal, I’ll have to look it up. One of the things we’re talking about doing (and it depends on the $$$) is the Red Cross offers discounts for groups and we though it’d be neat to either take the girls in for CPR or basic first aid, so they can get their First Aid badges, as well as certificates for completing the class! They’ll also be working on scrapbooking later on in the year, as we amass more photos and the girls all get to know each other better. So besides the troop leaders having their cameras, the Youngest and I will be bringing ours. And most likely I will not be posting any of those here. I will share them over at FaceBook, but especially since these are kids other than my own, I don’t feel comfortable posting their pics up here.

Let’s see what else? Oh yeah, have been putting together a package for my mother for ages now, and I think I may actually have it ready to be sent off. I wanted it shipped off before Christmas, but it didn’t happen. Then I discovered I couldn’t locate everything for it, even though I’d been keeping it one general area. I think I now have everything, and I just need to put the finishing touches on the project that took the longest with it. I know she’ll love it!

That's it, Tux has decided one of two things: 1- She is going to be shipped to Grandma's or 2- Grandma can get her own box!

Had a good talk with the BFF the other night. FINALLY! Didn’t last long because she forgot to charge her phone, but I enjoyed the talk anyway. She said that they got the package of Sims 2 stuff just before Christmas, and said her mom nabbed the base game, her baby sister nabbed University, she took the last three discs (I think) and her oldest sister got the rest. It was the entire Sims 2 set including a few guides. It actually helped me free up a lot of room around here! And since I’m not playing it anymore, I’m glad that the games didn’t go to waste and others are enjoying them. They were fun ones, and I hope Sims 3 has some similar ones (I miss the weather from Seasons!).

Let’s see… Had a lot of stuff I wanted to get done today and I didn’t get nearly all of it done. I did however spend a lot of time with the computer this morning (Twitter! I am your slave!), and then spent a while on Sims 3. Almost done with the tombs in China and got started on the ones in France. Though I had wanted to do Egypt before that, but a quest in China needed me to go to France. This Sim’s lifetime wish is to fully explore six tombs in all three countries. It’s been fun, even if a little frustrating when I get myself stuck. But that’s why we buy Escaping Dust from the Special Merchant .

I guess that’s it. Vader and Trouble both have already pestered me a dozen times that it is past my bedtime. I do need to go to bed. I believe I wont have another day off until next Friday, on the 15th. Not looking forward to that, but the 15th starts my little mini vacation, where I get some stuff done here and have some much-needed ME time. And maybe by then Bioware will have the ‘Return to Ostagar’ DLC for Dragon Age released, as it was to have been today, but for some unknown reason it wasn’t. Jerks messed up my day off. Planned on playing that all day, but noooooo. They suck. Even if they have a nice expansion coming out in March. And it looks pretty!

Normally Ryoko and Tux cannot stand each other. Today they napped together. Between this and the other night w/ Cujo and Vader, the end must be upon us!

Happy New Year!

Yup, it’s the first day of 2010. And no, it’s not the new decade, as many like to say it is. Did we start time with 0? Nope, it was 1. So the new decade does not officially start until 2011. Ask your major science geeks and they will agree. As well as the majority of historians.

Holy Shite! The dogs are laying next to each other! That NEVER happens. Normally Cujo likes to snap at Vader, not lay next to him. Wow. Is it the end of the world or something?

Anyway, didn’t get everything accomplished today that I set out to do. Wanted to get the tree down, but that will be done a little at a time during the weekend. The Youngest can start taking the decorations off of it and then between me and Hubby we can get the rest. Just was really tired today. Managed to get the Chili made up (it was super yummy), and did one or two other small things, but not much else. Not a great start to the New Year, but oh well. It will be busy at work over the next two days with the school break coming to an end on Monday and the Start of the Year sales going on.

Did manage to speak with the BFF for a few minutes tonight. We’ve been playing a kind of phone tag game over the last few weeks. Mainly due to my wierd work schedule and being sick. The right ear still is clogged, but I wanted to call her anyway. Unfortunately I managed to catch her as she was driving back from visiting family in Mass. At night. I have perfect timing. I know she’s not thrilled to be talking while driving, so I told her I’ll call her Sunday night. Hopefully we can. That’ll be a long day so there is that chance I’ll pass out once I come home. Being up since 4-ish and then standing in a cold window all day, dealing with the general public will do that to you.

Did manage to play some Sims today, in fact I zoned out on it. I know, bad me, but hey, I went and got all that stuff and found some nice floorplans to reproduce in the game, that I had to. Loving the World Adventures Expansion for it. At first I wasn’t too sure of the whole Tombs and Puzzles thing, but it fits and makes it nice to play now. I have an adventuring Sim that makes all her money that way. She goes through the Tombs and finds the treasures and makes a killing. I think during one trip she ended up with 5,000 simoleans in her pocket. And that was a three-day trip! Combine that with her Military job and she is sitting pretty with the money.

Twitter has been fun lately. Now, thanks to RoosterTeeth (link to the right) I’ve gotten to know a few people (not friends by any means, but at least I’d feel comfy talking to them if I ran into them on the street or at a restaurant). That was an awesome feeling to talk to a few of the people associated with a production company that is starting to slowly move past ‘cult’ status and up into the ‘B’ listers at least. Well, I was floored when someone who is of celebrity status (maybe not as well-known as a lot of them, but I think she should be) responded to a tweet of mine yesterday. She is the delightful Layla Kayleigh. She used to do The Feed on G4, and has since moved onto other projects. Hubby and I follow her as often as we can (in the not so stalkerish way of TV and Internet). Besides being a beautiful woman, she is very intelligent and can be quite outspoken. Check her out here and here. She can be pretty outspoken, but unlike a lot of other out spoken people, she has the brains and the balls to back it up. She doesn’t just utter pure shit and expect everyone to take her word for it. She knows her stuff and can show you. In saying that, I don’t always agree with her POV’s, but I can respect her, unlike a lot of the other Hollywood types that make me want to gag every time they open their mouths. So, yesterday I saw her Tweet about somebody calling her a racist. She was a bit upset, and I sent her a Tweet about how I thought that person needed to do some self-reflection. We conversed shortly, and I made sure to point out to her that even though we’ve never met face to face and I don’t know everything there is to know about her, what I do know has shown me she isn’t a racist. Far from it really. It felt good to talk to her. Ms. Kayleigh seems to be the type of person that I would enjoy sitting down at the dinner table with and just talk. It wouldn’t matter about what, but just talk. I think it would be an enlightening experience. It’s hard to find a woman who is beautiful in every sense of the word and is not afraid to show it. She is the type of role model I’d love for my daughters.

In other news, I’ve been thinking hard about typing up a master cleaning list again. Did this about a year and a half ago and it took me about nine months (I think, it’s been a while) and the house looked really good, inside and out for all of five minutes . I don’t do New Years Resolutions for the simple fact that I will not oath myself to something that I know I wont see through. So instead, I normally set little goals for the year, and see if I can complete them. So, I think I’m going to do this and get the house back in shape. Serious deep cleaning, combined with serious decluttering and we might have some usable space in the house. Also thinking of discussing with Hubby about possibility of buying a storage shed when we have the Lowe’s card paid off. Haven’t done any research yet into how much it would cost, but it would be nice to have one and be able to store our outdoor things in it, and a few other things. It would certainly free up some space in here. And also give outdoor kitties that have become the official outdoor kitties (only one for now, but her brother is working his way up the ladder) some shelter underneath it. Lots to think about and consider. Especially with Tax Time and the Financial Aid check right around the corner. I think we may have a few serious discussions ahead of us over the next few weeks.

I know now that the holidays are over with, and things will be returning to some sort of normalcy, I will be looking into the Free Health Clinic up the road. Legs are about the same, good days and bad days. Hands, well, they suck right now. And the fact that the ear is not unclogging, in spite of everything I’ve tried, is a bit concerning. So, hopefully they will allow me to make an appointment, but if not, I’ll have a better idea of my schedule and what not so I can plan on spending a whole day there, waiting. Really hoping they will be able to help. I’m over feeling pain, period.

Finished reading two wonderful books on my Kindle over the past few days. Both by the great and wonderful Neil Gaiman. Stardust and Coraline. Now, it’s odd, because he is one of my all time favorite authors, but I’d actually seen the movies of these books before reading them. I like Stardust the movie and the book just the same. A LOT of differences between the two, but enough of the original work in the movie to make it still Neil’s. Now with Coraline, it was a little different. I enjoyed the movie, but I think I liked the book a lot more. The movie seemed to want to take more after Nightmare Before Christmas (same director) than the book. Not that it’s bad, it just didn’t really feel like Neil’s work. The book was classic Neil, though. I still list American Gods and the Sandman series (including Death) as my top choices of his works. And then Mr. Punch is not far behind.

Anything else? Nope, not really. Need to edit this so I can get myself into bed. Have to be in at 7, and will most likely not be home till after 5. And Saturdays are not good days at any restaurant, unless you mean money. Then it’s one of the best grossing days of the week. Especially at the beginning of the month. Hope everyone is doing well on this first day of the year!

Twelfth Night

Today is the last day of the year, the decade and of Yule. So I thought I better update the ole blog and let people see what I’ve been up to. Which of late has been a rather nasty combination of mostly being sick and working hard. I was supposed to work a long 10 hour day today, but after the Boss got us all going and set, I was told I could go home. Of course the Drama King he is, made a production out of it, saying he was tired of hearing my bitchin’ and complain’ and to have a Happy New Year. He is so messed up at times . Honestly I was looking to leave maybe about 3 or 4 at the earliest, so I could get myself ready for tonight. Nothing big planned. Mainly staying up, watching the Yule candle burn and spending time with the family.

Speaking of which, and I wont go into a lot of detail (another if you already know then you are meant to), but it is quiet around here now. The Oldest is going to be away for six months, so we are adapting to that right now. We will be going to visit with her and all, it’s just so quiet.

Kids made out like bandits this year, even though we really didn’t have a whole lot of money to spend on anything really. I guess I owe a lot of it to Amazon. Hubby watched that site like a hawk since October and we managed to score A LOT for them. Between them and Wal-Mart.com, we did the majority of our gift shopping online. And no, I didn’t have to pay shipping. Amazon Prime is the best program ever, and Wal-Mart I believe had a special on shipping when we got the BluRays for the kids. Which if anyone is interested, the physical stores are still pricing new release Blu Rays for $20 still. I know my father-in-law got a Blu Ray Player for the holidays, and I know a few others who have, so they all need to check it out. And what I am liking about it (and we scored it w/ the kids’ movies) is the majority of the new releases have it where you have the Blu Ray disc, a standard DVD and a digital copy. So if Hubby and I want to watch a movie, but it’s not family friendly, then we can send them to their room to watch one of their new ones. Or if I want to check out a movie and Hubby has a game night with his friends, I can take it back to the bedroom with me. Lovin’ it.

Ok, enough with the sales pitch .

Vader getting ready to go to Grandma's!

Anyway, I’ve been pretty sick this last week, though I am feeling better. Last week I dealt with an ear infection of the type I haven’t had since I was in my early teens. Pretty damn bad. It knocked me out for awhile and ruined a few plans, but we still made it to Grandma Wanda’s for Christmas. Anywho, my ears have been playing funky games with me. I think it’s sinus related, but they have been so clogged up lately it isn’t entertaining to say the least. It’ has made things hard at work with running the drive throu and talking on the phone has been a chore at best. My right ear is almost totally plugged up and the left one has moments of clarity. There is a lot of “what did you just say?” around right now, which does nothing for my mood. Ask the Youngest what sets mommy off the fastest. She will tell you repetition. I cannot stand repeating myself or having others repeat things to me. I will become Queen Bitch. They experienced that a few times at work this week. Poor guys. Thankfully I did keep it under for the most part, but still. There was a lot of cussing and swearing in the back room. Hopefully they will clear up soon so I can hear again. It’s hard listening to my MP3 player as well. Had to crank up the volume for RoosterTeeth’s Drunk Tank Podcast and still had to back it up at odd times so I could catch what was being said. *sigh*

Grace 'helping' the girls get ready for bed...

Anyway, more about the time at Grandma’s… We had good food and good company. Typically when we go we have a Prime Rib and Turkey for dinner with all kinds of side dishes. We did this year as well, only Popeye did the Turkey with his new “Infrared Turkey Cooker” (not sure if that’s the official name or not), and let me tell you, that bird was delicious. I love the Southern tradition of the Fried Turkey, something I have grown quite fond of since moving down here. If you haven’t had it yet, you need to try it. But the Infrared Turkey was better! And a little less dangerous. My father-in-law could actually leave it unattended for a little bit and not worry about setting the place on fire, or have oil spill out from overflow, etc. And it was jucier and had the best flavor. Will have to see about getting one for us, once we get a bigger place, that is. But it was good to see everyone again and to show off the gift that the in-laws and Hubby got for me, which showed up a week early. If you’ve been paying attention to my Twitter Feed and to my FaceBook page, then you know what I got. It’s the best thing ever: Amazon’s Kindle! Yup, I have one of my very own. And I’ve gotten several new books for it, and almost finished them, even have put a bunch of pdf files on it as well. Sad thing is, I got it on mine and Hubby’s wedding anniversary, and it was hard to resist it! I really wanted to mess with my new toy, but I couldn’t just outright ignore him either! Now I can buy new books for much cheaper prices and not have to worry about using up all the space we don’t have for it. So far my favorite book I’ve read on it is Dragon Age: The Calling. It’s a prequel to the game, setting some things up nicely and blowing your mind totally if you played the game before reading the book. A certain character in the game is not exactly who or rather what he seems.

Vader and Cujo tuckered out after gifts have been unwrapped...

Let’s see here. Haven’t been writing too much, which is bad, but I have been working on outlines and character bibles to make sure I have everything straight. I’ll be taking a few extra days off here in the next couple of weeks, so I plan on spending two days scrubbing this house and then the rest of the time writing. Had wanted to see about having something ready to be published by this month, but since Hubby lost his job and started school, things changed. Still plan on publishing, I’ll just be taking longer to get there.

Methinks Grace agrees with the boys...

On the gaming front: Dragon Age is still the game of choice. Though with Mass Effect 2 getting ready to come out, I need to work on finishing that one play through for the first one. Yes, I finished it like four times, but still, I want to get the full enjoyment out of the second on since you can port your ME1 saves and use the same character in the second one. Oh, and for those interested, the new DLC for Dragon Age comes out next Tuesday: The Return to Ostagar. Can’t wait. Want to go back and kick some DrakSpawn hiney and see if I can get the King’s pretty armor. Not much with Sims lately, though I have been downloading (or ’shopping’) stuff for them, and even looked up some floorplans to get some ideas for some houses to build for them. What I really got out of the floorplans is this- Am I one of the few people who could give a rat’s ass about granite countertops? Some look nice, but frankly I’d be happy with wood or stainless steel or a combo of both. Better for cooking and baking with. And we do a lot of both.

As soon as we got home, we couldn't find Vader. He was passed out on our bed, too tired to even bother with anything!

Let’s see, what else? Not sure. So I guess I will close this here, and then add the pics and post this entry. Oh, is it time for Stargate Universe yet? I’m in need of a fix here, guys.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Grrr Argh!

Have been so busy with work and with the holidays and in general not feeling well. The weather here has been colder than normal and it’s been raining more than normal, so of course my entire body decided it was gonna be mean and hurt. This has more or less put me more behind in getting back to people who have sent e-mails or notes via elsewhere. Sunday I will be off, so in between hurting during the rain we’ll be getting and catching up on housework, I will be working on going through e-mail, FaceBook, etc. I have not forgotten anyone, it’s just some days it’s too painful to sit at my desk, even when I make a ‘bed’ out of my desk chair and a kitchen chair. Thus another reason for wanting a laptop. I can take it back to the bed with me, or the couch. Ok, I know, I can use Twitter and FaceBook on the XBox 360, but seriously, I just want to game when I have that on, or watch something over Netflix. That and its a pain to hook up the keyboard, and I have no interest in a chatpad. And I’ve run off on a tangent . Anyway, I will catch up on Sunday. After that, as long as the Boss cooperates with me (Hey! I only went home early one day and even though I should have called out at least one day, I’ve been to work, in pain, and getting the job done!) my next day off wont be till the 18th. And I have no plans on getting in touch with ANYONE that day. No offense all, but it’s mine and Hubby’s 10th Anniversary. We don’t have any plans other than to stay home, which is fine. Money is tight, so a night at home, the kids occupied in their room, and us with a good movie will be just as good. Though if anyone is willing to babysit and foot the bill for Miyabi’s, I won’t complain .

Man, married for ten years and together for twelve. Wow. Just wow. Love the Hubby!

Speaking of which, I have to brag a bit here. Now, Hubby is a 10th-grade dropout, and it’s been, what, 18 or so years since he’s been to school (not including Navy time). So, when I say I am proud of my Hubby for completing his first semester of college, and also that I am proud of him for doing so with STRAIGHT A’S, I mean it. Yup. You read that right. An A in every class. Hell, he scored a 98 on the Serve Safe Test that is needed if you want to go into management at pretty much ANY restaurant (even if you own your own place). Now I’ve helped two or three of my managers with their certification since they have to re-test every five years to keep it current. If you enter management at a restaurant they will direct you to a place where you can a class that will last a day or two and spring for the book. Now, most people will usually average out at 85-90 (at least at my job). So, I honestly think Hubby got the better end of the deal when he took the actual semester long class and passed the test with a 98! YEAH! My Boss was actually jealous. I think the highest score at our store right now is a 90 (don’t quote). It’s not an easy test, but it’s also not the hardest. If you use common sense you can pass it, but it’s nice to see my Hubby pretty much own the damn thing! Yes, I’m jazzed about it.

What else? Oh, movies. I haven’t said much about the movies I’ve been watching lately. Basically playing catch up from the Summer movies that were in theatres. As much as I love going to the movies, it’s not economical and we typically save them for VERY special occasions right now. Otherwise, at least once a month or more is what we used to do. But, we managed to score a few on Blu Ray recently, thanks to Wal-Mart. They have been having the new Releases on Blu Ray priced at $20 when they first come out. So that helped with Transformers 2 , Gi Joe, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation (but damn Christian Bale is growing on me! I’ve almost forgotten the whole American Pyshco thing!). And then guess what Hubby discovered, and yes, they are still doing it, so check and see if your local Wal MArt has it if you want it, but Harry Potter and the Half Blood Price is 15 and change. I shit you not. The Blu Ray version. I think the Standard DVD is about 13, which is still a good deal, but since we really want Blu Rays now (the only reason we still have the PS3, except maybe for one or two games) this is an awesome deal. We haven’t checked out Harry Potter yet, it’s still sitting there on the shelf, but I took the kids to see it for my Birthday when it came out thanks to money my Mom sent for my birthday. Most likely tomorrow night or even on Sunday we will though.

Out of them all I have to say its a close tie between Terminator and Star Trek for my favorite. Terminator was handled very well, and ignored the thrid movie to a point. And it was nice to see Helena Bonham Carter in a movie other than one of TIm Burton’s. Love him, don’t get me wrong, but I think she’s wasted there. And even though it was a small role, she did a great job. And Christian Bale is growing on me. First Batman and now John Connor. He needs to stop. Seriously. Then we have Star Trek. Not a huge Trekkie, more of a Star Wars fan girl, but I still like to sit down and watch the shows and movies, but I was never really into it, except for Voyager. That was one my mother and I loved watching together. And even though JJ Abrams was behind this one, we were still cautious, Hubby and I. We adore JJ and all, but he was still responsible for Felicity. I think Fringe has made up for it, but still. Anywho, he did a wonderful job, and made the movie make sense as to why things were different and would be different from now on. And Zach Quinto as Spock?! Oh my gods in Asgard! I’m a Sylar fangirl at heart, so to see him as Spock was surreal, but awesome. He did a great job and I would love to see him in future movies as the 1/2 Vulcan. And the romance for him? Wouldn’t have pictured it in the previous movies, but damn it works here!

All right, I think that’s it for tonight. Feeling the writing bug hitting, so I may write a bit and if I can stand it, play a little Sims. No Dragon Age tonight. I love Zevran, but to have my Player Character romance him this play through, I just… I miss Alistair. A lot. *sigh*. That and I should finish up my ‘planned’ play through with Mass Effect, since the second one is coming out next month and all the little tidbits they have been releasing soon, well, I want that game so bad!

Vader at Grandma's. He loves going there, I think not just for Grandma and Grace, but for the yard!

 

I can't help but not love him in Dragon Age. *swoon*

Adore the Elf, but he's no Templar!

Note, bottom two pics of Alistair and Zevran are from the game and taken from the Dragon Age Wiki site.

They broke the internets…

Ah, the internet is down this morning. Great. Normally after Vader and I go for a walk and I fix both of our breakfasts, I sit at the computer, eating, and I check e-mail, Twitter, FaceBook and general web surfing to get caught up with the world. Nope, our cable is entirely out at the moment, and it’s irritating. They’ve been having more outages lately, and I’m not sure why. When I first signed on with Charter, they were famous for cable outages and it became a pain in the ass. But then they upgraded their entire system, network, etc, and it was rare to have an outage. Now in the last few months, it seems about every other week at least we have one. Oh well. Hopefully it will be back on before I leave for work.

So I decided to use the Word program to write this up with. I figure I can save it and then post it later. I do need to get better about updating this blog. Its main purpose is to help me keep in touch with family and friends that I don’t get to see on a regular basis, as well as to help keep me sane, and when I do start it up again, kind of a workout journal.

So, what to talk about? Well, today after Hubby picks me up from work, we’ll be grabbing the kids from school, and then it’s off to pick up the fudge from the Marching Band’s fundraiser. While there we also pick up some DVDs from the band’s entire season. One of the parents in the band put it together, and has apparently been doing this for some time now. With the band’s material copyright owned by somebody else, she wasn’t able to do as she normally does with the DVDs and charge a flat rate. So all she has asked for them is five dollars to cover costs and then for us to each make a small donation. We had been able to buy DVDs or videos of each of the band’s performances, but that would have cost us roughly $20 per disc, and no practices or behind the scenes stuff on those, and it would include the other bands. Frankly I think we’re getting the better deal here.

Now tomorrow morning will be fun. I am off for the weekend, and so in the morning I will be taking the Oldest to the school so she can get ready with the band for the parade. Then I need to rush up to Pickens to one of their churches that is giving away winter clothing. I figure it will help stretch the budget a bit and be able to get the kids some much needed clothes. They aren’t really lacking in clothes, it’s just like all kids, they’ve grown out of a bunch of stuff. So I will go and see just what I can find. It starts at nine, but the message I got about it said to be there early. Oldest needs to be at school by 8 so that should put me at the church around 8:20. I think that’s early enough. Hopefully it won’t take long since I don’t want to miss the parade which starts at 10.

Speaking of the parade, the Girl and Boy Scouts do march in it, but since the Youngest’s troop is newly formed they won’t be able to be in it. So hopefully next year.

Hoping to corral the kids into helping me bake some stuff this weekend as well. Get some Chocolate Chip cookies for Hubby (the extreme low sugar variety that are still nummy), and some Sugar cookies. I know I have stuff for those. And maybe some brownies as well. Been wanting them lately and with a recipe I snagged from Alton Brown, I’ve been able to make them with Splenda with very good results, so Hubby can eat them with no problem.

Ok, it looks as though the net is back up, so I’m going to post this and go through my normal routine very, very quickly. Oh and one last tidbit, chances for us to get snow this weekend are looking semi good. I know the mountains will be and according our local news station they say if conditions A & B are met, then we will have snow. The Youngest and I are happy about that. The Oldest I believe is a little indifferent, but that will change if it does happen, and Hubby… well, he’s a Southerner at heart and doesn’t really care for the white stuff, unless it’s to make snowmen choking each other or to throw snowballs at everyone, especially at Vader, who tries to catch them. Which Cujo doesn’t care for the snow, but Vader loves it! Go back into my archive here for Feb or March, I forget when it was we got that snow, and check out some of the pics from that. Vader was a snow puppy!

All right, I’m gone for real now! Later all!

It’s December…. Yay?

Zombie, the one daddy has to make savings throws against... and Tux's sister.

Ryoko bathing and Tiger chillin’.

Tuesday I ordered off of the Girl Scouts website for the Youngest, her sash, two of the books she needs (the handbook and journey book), the insignia and a shirt that was on clearance. I spent less than $40 and that’s including shipping. And it was all cheaper than going to the store up in Greenville that sells this stuff. Guess where I’m getting all her Girl Scout needs from now on? BTW, the first meeting was moved to the 15th due to lack of a meeting place. *sigh* The woes of a new troop.

Have been working hard on laundry and a little picking up here and there, but mostly I’ve been trying to figure some things out. The available space in here has been getting smaller and smaller. It’s hard when you cram four people and six animals into a two bedroom one bath place. Especially when storage is at a premium. It’s also harder when you have a hard time telling people who offer you things to say no, or to get people who give you gifts to understand that yes, I adore the gift, but where am I going to put it??? It’s no secret we love to cook and bake and eat. If you didn’t know, then you have not been paying much attention . So, it seems that the ones that have figured it out feel the need to give away or buy us things for the kitchen that we have no more room to support. I’ve already in the last three months cleaned out the kitchen at least three times (I’m thinking closer to four though) to make room for more things that are sent our way. And I am in NO way saying that we don’t appreciate the gifts or the thought, but man! I barely have room for me in the kitchen! As it stands right now, on one side of the kitchen is the sink with the cabinets, stove and fridge. Everything is full to capacity. And the things that are starting to go on the list from that area are the gifts we’ve been given through the years. I don’t have room for my pots and pans (and Hubby, though I love him, keeps adding more). It’s like a death run for the kids to put things up because everything is so crammed in tightly! And that’s just one half of my kitchen! The other half houses the pantry (it’s really a death trap test for the kids: if they survive they get to stay another day with us!), a grey shelf that was supposed to handle the overflow from the pantry when we stocked up from Sams Club, but now houses several appliances, some that don’t get used like we’d like them too because we simply don’t have the money to buy the food to use them with anymore. Next to that is the toolkit, which is overflowing and then a little junk corner with outdoor stuff and other overflow from the kitchen that I can’t even use because I don’t have the room. Then my desk. There is no where else in the house for it. Used to be in the bedroom, but that changed a few years ago when Hubby moved in. And don’t get me started on the bedroom- the kitchen has been creeping into it lately. I’ve got a few appliances, storage containers and serving platters that we don’t really use for various reasons holed up in there right now. So yeah. And that’s not including the living room, bathroom and the kids room. And we’ve all gone through everything and gotten rid of A LOT of stuff. Goodwill was our best friend for a while.

No, I didn’t sell any of it because lately the flea market has not been lucrative and yard sales in our county are expensive (registering, temp tax id, etc.) so it was better for us to just donate it and give others the chance that could use the stuff to get it. And things look good for another purge coming up soon. I think everything will be on the list. And it will most likely have to fit into one of the following categories: We use it all the time; it’s been used once or twice in the last three months (used to be six, but we’re getting desperate here); it has extreme sentimental value; we have no intention of using it ever again. Wont be easy, especially for the kids, but we are just going to have to. I’d like to be able to open a cabinet and not have everything come crashing down. And yes, I do organize and all that. Trust me, that is not an issue. No matter how well you organize you have two things against you: The people you live with who don’t put things back the way they are supposed to be and SPACE. The latter is the biggest issue right now. The former can be worked on, but how do you increase space you don’t have?

Bob, one of our outdoor cats... and Tux's brother.

So, yeah, that’s my conundrum for today. Not pleased with it either. Hell this is why I’d love a laptop and a kindle. I can get rid of my desk top and either get a smaller desk or get rid of it all together. And I love books, but no room for them. I did a book purge not long ago, and it didn’t free up much space. So it’d be easy to just get the digital copies. Of course if I had the lap top I wouldn’t really need the Kindle, casue they have the PC download app now, but it still would be nice to be able to not lug anything heavy around while I’m reading. But that’s just me.

Stargate Universe is back this Friday for its final episode of 2009. It will be back either in March or April, maybe May. I hate that SciFi does that. Why the long hiatus. I can understand a short one during the holiday season, but after January, there is no excuse! Oh well. But what I hate more than that is the fact that they are going by way of Battlestar Galactica season 2 and 4, or should I say 2.0, 2.1 and 4.0, 4.1? Or what ever they called them? Yup, they are splitting the DVDs up and guess what? They are charging FULL price for them as if it were the complete season! *grumble* That’s bullshit! You can go on iTunes or to Amazon, buy the entire season for around 30-50 bucks (depending on standard and HD). And with Amazon you can have it streaming to the TV! So, come February, unless I can find it cheaper than even the pre-order price Amazon is asking for them, I will not be getting Stargate Universe 1.0, and I encourage everyone else that watches the show to do the same. We stopped getting the BSG DVDs after all that shit. Have season 1, and no more after that. We MIGHT get the series collection, but even that’s too high-priced for what they are giving you. So, I may have to stick with digital copies of the show, or Hulu, whenever I want to watch it again. I love Stargate, but not that much.

Vader, curled up on *his* bed.

In other SciFi-ish DVD talk, it appears Jim Hensen Productions finally revealed why for the last year or two they have had the Farscape DVDs as unavailable for sale, etc (I couldn’t even find them on Netflix till recently), and I’m actually happy about it. They remastered them and set them up in a nice package as a series set and it’s not badly priced either. For just over $50 on Amazon, I can have all four seasons with a few goodies and be happy. We’ve been watching season one with the kids and they’ve been enjoying it. I daresay even Hubby has been, to a point. Unfortunately, he loves Sci-Fi, but (and I do agree here) a lot of the shows and movies leave a lot to be desired. But, Farscape, especially the last two seasons, are Sci-Fi at its best. It pushes the line and makes you think and brings in a lot of original ideas and material. A lot of that is thanks to Jim Hensen Productions, which was the main driving force behind the show.

Ryoko on *her* bed- yes, Hubby and I don't own a bed. It's theirs!

Let’s see, anything else? Not much. I really should wrap this up so I can get some more chores done and then maybe bake some cookies. Hubby’s last day of classes is today. Tomorrow starts his finals and he has one each day til next Thursday. Very proud of him since it looks like he’s averaging an A in each class. Yay!!!!

Cujo, Charlie, Grace and Vader... pre-orgy.

My Sister-in-law's adorable puppy, Charlie. Don't let his size fool you .

Vader and Grace at Grandma's.

Tux, laying claim to Daddy's backpack.

Trouble wondering just what is going on in the kitchen.

Blargh

 

I have been seriously slacking in my blogging. Blame it on several things: Being busy, depressed, working, family, and a slew of other things. I have been slack, and it stinks, but what can I say?

A few updates:

Marching Band is participating in the parade this weekend for our town. Oldest is going to have an early morning Saturday. Not so much as a long day as they aren’t there for the whole day, unlike w/ the competitions, etc.

The Youngest is finally a Girl Scout. We had a meeting last week and now we have another tomorrow and she is happy. I also joined along with her so that way I can go with her on trips and help out where I can. It’s been YEARS, but seriously, not much has changed.

Hubby is heading into finals this week with school. He’s looking at straight A’s for his classes. Not sure about final GPA, but I imagine it’ll be close to a 4.0.

The animals are all doing well. Sleeping more, and terrorizing each more. Yup, winter is coming. The only real concern is Cujo. He has started to in the last few days to not be able to jump off of the beds or couches. He is also starting to have a harder time with jumping up. I think we might look into some dog steps for him. I have a bad feeling about him and the upcoming year, but at least he has lived a long and happy life. And who knows, maybe out of spite, he’ll last another ten years! Also, we now have one Official Outdoor Cat and an Unofficial one. They are the siblings of Tux, her sister Zombie and brother Bob (Everyone else is Not Bob). Zombie has taken to attacking Hubby much like her sister did. I told him he better make sure he’s got all of his bonuses because if he rolls another critical (ie, 1) he’s in deep shit. Of course, I better do the same as well. We don’t have the room or money for more animals to come into this place with. We have six already. We don’t need more. Obviously, the kids are no help in this matter.

Ok, now, that is it for the updates. The rest of this entry may not be all that pleasant, for which I say, go away if you don’t want to read complaining, bitching, whinning, and the like. I have been dealing with a pretty nasty depression for a while now, and as a recommendation from my doctor (since I am refusing pills, I take enough already thank you) to write about it. I wont be covering everything here, since obviously some of it is too personal for such a public space. I’ll save that for my LiveJournal. I can lock that one to friends only, and not worry about my ‘dirty laundry’ getting strung up all over the place. So, consider yourself warned. If you don’t click another link (I have several to the right side of this blog) then I don’t want to hear any of you bitching.

For the better art of two months I have been dealing with varying degrees of depression. Some of it has been easy to deal with and throw to the side. Other bits… not so much. I’ve had bouts of it before (everyone does), but nothing like this. And it’s not any one big event that has caused me to go down this road, either. One big event certainly didn’t help me any, but it’s mostly just a lot of little things that build and build.

In September, I got ’sick’. Not saying with what, or just what happened. That’s MY business. But that was the one BIG event that was a catalyst to all of this. And of course I had missed time at work and that caused em to not be able to go back home for my niece’s wedding, which I was looking forward to. In the time since I’ve been out on my own, I have been home a small handful of times. And those times were not happy ones. Mostly funerals and one separation. I was looking forward to being there for a happy occasion and to see everybody and spend some quality time being with them and happy, instead of mourning.

I’ve been feeling really homesick lately. Bad enough that it is making the depression worse. I didn’t want anything to do with Thanksgiving this year. Didn’t want to leave the house. And it’s not because I didn’t want to spend it with Hubby’s side of the family. By any means, no. I adore my in-laws. In fact we did have a good time. But the reason for not wanting to go was I am tired of not being able to spend ANY holiday with my family. My mother, my siblings, my nieces and nephews. I may not be as close to them as once upon a time, but dammit, I would like to be able to be with them and maybe reforge those loose bonds with them so they can become stronger. It’s not easy doing it over the phone or e-mail and most are not that much into the internet, if at all (unless they are keeping something from me…). For Yule this year, we are staying here. I do not want to leave the house. If everyone else wants to come to me, that’s fine, I wont turn them away. Not much room, but I can make do. But since I cannot go home, my ass is staying firmly planted right here. I can’t see my mother, I wont be bothering with spending the gas money to see anyone else. It’s not fair to me. We have money for trips to here and there, but NEVER the money to go home. It wears on me and I can’t take it anymore. Mom is not getting any younger and I miss her. It had been several years since I’d seen Dad before he passed away. I don’t want that for Mom. I regret that, and I don’t want it again.

Speaking of which, I have been trying to send her a package for the better part of six months. I have not been able to get this woman who gave birth to me a present for her birthday or christmas in forever. So, I have decided that until that package makes its way to her, with everything in it (still waiting on a few things), unless you are my kids or my husband, you will not be getting anything from me. Sorry, but if I don’t have $$$ for my own mother, then the rest of you wont get anything. 

There are also issues with the family life that are going on, that for the most part will not be talked about here. The ones that know about it are the ones that know about it. No one else need concern themselves. All I will say is that if certain changes are not made soon, and on more than one level then I will become a world-class bitch and throw EVERYBODY out the door. It’s a lot of stress and heartache that I am no longer willing to put up with, and it is not involving just one person. Now having said that, I fully expect the backlash of I shouldn’t have just typed that here. Fuck off. This is about me. This is my little pity party. Since no one really wants to listen to me fully in regards to many things, or have their heads so far up their own asses, where else can I say it? Oh, right, LiveJournal.

I know I’m being a bit mean, a bit whiney, and a bitch. But if you sit down and look at everything, I’m shocked I haven’t put a gun to my head or to those around me and pulled the trigger. It may seem like I’m blowing things out of proportion, but not so much. I am just tired of a lot of things, and it seems that no matter how hard I do try to make them better, or try to repair what ever damage has been done, it blows up in my face and it wont happen that way. Unless I become a complete and total bitch and throw a temper tantrum. Then things happen. But it’s only ever short-term. Things go right back to the way they were, because in a family unit (just like any other unit) EVERYBODY has to want it in order to make it happen. Well, that’s not the way it is.

Currently I am the only one working, if you could call it that. My hours fluctuate so much that one week I might be seen or heard much, and the next I’m home more than I care to be. And the work environment leaves A LOT to be desired. And not just the lovely customers who feel the need to treat you like shit, no matter how nice and polite you are to them. I am fed up with working there, with the majority of those people. BUT, since the economy tanked, jobs have been scarce around here, and a few that I did actually apply to do these nice little credit checks, and since my credit is fucked beyond belief, I wont be hired. Even with one of my managers vouching for me in how I handle money at work. Figure that shit out. And some of the other jobs that are available are not suitable for my legs, though I may have to live with it and try and hide the pain just to get them. And I am speaking of factory jobs. A few plants are going to be opening up this Spring in Greenville, so it’s something to consider. But I am fed up with my job. Here’s some free advice to you young kids- if you have the opportunity to stay in school and get a degree that may give you an edge over everyone else, say FUCK all to everything else and stay in school. Otherwise take a long hard look at me. I have the training and know how to be CPA. I can still do it. BUT, since I was a retard and didn’t listen to my gut and stay in school and finish that little degree up, and thus allowing my credit to get fucked right along with it, I’m stuck with low paying, low respect, low satisfaction jobs that make me want to bash my head in. And no, I cannot go back to school either. Why? For one thing, I still owe money to a school and you cannot be accepted at any other school unless you pay off that debt. Kind of like a black list, if you will. And there is my credit. And the fact that due to our money situation, I had to let my student loans go, I will not be approved for any others. You can scream scholarship all you want. That will not be enough to cover it all.

Yes, I want more than anything to go back to school and finish up at least one of my degrees. I was working on a AA in History, as well a BA in both Business Management and Accounting. I still wow people at work with the shit I know. But it does me no good in the work force. So yeah, there is all that. And yes, it has made things a little sticky between the Hubby and I, what with him in school right now. But even though I do feel jealousy towards him being where I want to be, I refuse to let him drop out. He’s pissed me off with the whole no job thing, even with unemployment (it’s not even close to what we need to survive since my boss plays with my schedule), and he has come close to ROYALLY pissing me off by threatening to drop out. Nope. Not gonna happen, no matter how upset I am that its him and not me. He needs this. We can’t have him on the road anymore as a Truck Driver. His diabetes will catch up to him and end that for him. By going to school, he’s giving himself and our family a chance. It’s hard, but that is something I’ve come to terms with, no matter how much it hurts.

I have been pretty distant with several friends right now, and it’s nothing they’ve done. It’s me. Nobody did anything to piss me off. Not yet, anyway, unless you happen to live with me or work with me, then let me see what time of day it is . No, it’s just been very difficult since September to talk to a few of you guys. It’s my choice to stay quiet, and deal with it on my own. And I shouldn’t be that way, but it’s not easy dealing with what I went through and then listening to people who have what I should have go on and on about it. So, it’s fucked up, but I love each and every one of you. It’s not you, it’s me.

It’s also not helping right now that I don’t have my cell phone and am lucky if I can get it to turn on at all so I can slowly get the numbers off of it I need. And I’ve misplaced (in all the cleaning and organizing I’ve done) the list of numbers I did have written down. I’m not a big phone talker by any means. Anyone that has been my friend for any amount of time knows that it can be a while before I actually make a call. But when I get on there I can be on there for long time. Go figure. *shrugs* I was hoping to have the money together in about two weeks to either get the phone repaired or replaced, but I don’t see that happening, unless I renew one of my loans for a larger amount, which would more or less screw us over big time, since it will increase the monthly payments. So yeah, may be a while. If you are on FaceBook, I think I have my correct phone number listed on that, I’ll have to check. If you follow me on LiveJournal, I locked it under a friend’s only post. Sorry, don’t want ever Tom, Dick and Sally calling me.

Legs are hurting, and the hands are kicking in. The weather is not being kind today with it being cold and rainy. Have a bunch of chores to do, but not sure just what will get done. Which is another thing. I remember when it was mostly me and the Youngest home all the time. Even with all the animals. I don’t recall it ever being so hard to keep the place clean. I don’t expect it to be immaculate. Ever. Mainly because I’m not. And also due to the lack of space here. Four people, six animals all in a two bedroom trailer. Yup. But, it’s hard to keep things off of the tables (kitchen and coffee), and it seems like the mess from the kids room spills out into the living room. And I know Hubby doesn’t have a desk of his own so he can work, but damn, I made a space for him to keep his stuff at. It certainly does not help with the depression if you spend your entire day off cleaning and organizing and then the very next day at the latest everything is messed up, why bother? Seriously. I’ll vacuum, and not even ten minutes later, it’s a mess again. I’ll clean the bathroom, and an hour later I feel like I have to do it again. I’ve given up on the Entertainment Center ever being dusted or organized again, so maybe I can have my little knick knacks on display w/o everything covering them up. Maybe I might feel more inclined to work on my desk or bake or do something if I feel everyone else is doing their fair share without me getting upset or pissy or saying something. And this has been going on for a while. I don’t really want to decorate for Yule this year because I don’t want it all to get lost in the clutter or get ruined. It’s horrible I know, and I don’t like feeling like that, but damn. Is it so hard to put something back in its place where it belongs with a little care? Apparently so.

I know, am I quite finished yet? Do I want to stomp on something or someone else? Am I done complaining so maybe I can be told that I am wrong and it’s not this way and that I am being a baby about it all? Nope, not by a long shot. That’s something else that does not help me out, at all.  I don’t often find it easy to share my feelings and emotions with people. I tend to do  it better through the written word. I can normally find what I want to say and have it make sense. Verbally, what can I say, I can’t do it. I muck it up and say the wrong thing and BAM! Instant fight. Never fun. These are my feelings and emotions and I am tired of them not being cared for. I listen to everyone else bitch and complain and have me sit there and cater to their every whim to make sure they are happy. Fuck it, not anymore. I am being selfish, but if I don’t, then I will go completely nuts and will wind up somewhere with a nice white jacket and very helpful people. I have come to realize that I have a few tough choices ahead of me. They will not be easy and will not be ones I want to make. But then again, that is life I suppose. If I don’t make these changes, then I will go nuts. It’s not fun feeling yourself break down. I could go by route of denial, but that wont solve anything. And nursing and catering to the problems that have created these choices have not helped at all either. It’s time for change, and it’s not easy, nor will it be liked and welcomed in most cases, but it needs to be done. How can I honestly be apart of my family and take care of it, if I don’t take care of me as well?

I guess I’m done for now. I may put some more things over at LJland, but this is all I wanted to say for now. I love my family (nuclear and extended, all) and my friends. You all mean a lot to me. To help me is let me come to you. At a time like now, I don’t need nor want the door crashing down or the phone ringing off the hook. It’ll make things worse. Been there and done that.

 

And to lighten things up….

 My snow puppy!

 

 

 

A writing frenzy

Wow. With no internet connection (or phone or cable) for the better part of the day (ok a few hours but it felt like forever!) and some computer issues (kinda taken care of) I went into overdrive in the writing department. I wrote not one, but two chapters of my SGU Fanfic. Yup, fanific. Oh the horror! I’m currently editing them right now, making a few changes and possibly will post them tonight. I’ve noticed as I’ve gotten further into the chapters with this story, I’m making fewer edits. And by that I mean the spelling and grammar errors. I know I am horrible at both (yet amazingly better than most people I know!) and that is one reason why I’ve been pushing my fics. At least this way it’s getting the creative juices flowing. I’ve actually brainstormed a few ideas for the books and will be implementing them soon. SGU goes on hiatus in two weeks and I’ll need something to fill the void .

I am missing my cell phone desperately. I hate the LG, but I miss using it as a source for Twitter and Facebook when I am away from my computer. No word yet on when it will be replaced. Hopefully soon. I can’t check my voicemails w/o it. If you are on LiveJournal (and my friend) I have more info about it over there, plus the # by which to reach me currently. Doubt I’ll be able to work my way into getting a PalmPre, but who knows, it could happen, and it would make for a happy me, and you better believe I’d be watching it like a hawk!

This next week is going to be busy for me. If the Bossman comes through for me on the schedule, I’ll be up around the 40ish hours this week. Which will be great since one or most of us have been sick over the last few weeks and I’ve missed some work. Need to make up that $$$ somehow. And of course there is Thanksgiving, which the store is closed. Suppose to be going to the Sister-in-Law’s for it. Not sure when we are leaving, but I know I’m not looking forward to work the next day. In a way I hope he has me off that day, but I didn’t ask for it due to the money. In fact I’ll be working the whole weekend. I know that to be a fact already. He likes me there on the weekends- not sure why though. I tend to become a real bitch because it’s all the bratty teens who can’t figure out slot A from hole B. And the weekend customers get on my nerves worse than any others. And with it being a huge shopping weekend and we have a major shopping center across the way… If I didn’t need Tuesday off for a doctor’s appointment, I’d be off at least one of the days for the weekend.

Oh guess what? We had a pipe explode under the kitchen floor. Again. Grrr. And I’ve been dripping the water at night over the last week since it’s been down around freezing to keep this from happening. Thing is, this happened during the day when it was warm out! And of course it was after hours for the landlord and we can’t get a hold of anybody. So we have no water. Hopefully tomorrow we can. I’ll need a shower before even thinking about going into work on Monday. I’ll kill everybody under that roof if I don’t! Being clean and repetition are two of my biggest pet peeves (what is now called OCD nowadays). I need a shower at least once a day and I cannot tolerate repeating myself or having others repeat to me. Nope, can’t do it. So if you want to see me pissed (not angry, upset, etc, but pissed) do those things. I don’t recommend it though .

Haven’t messed with it much, mainly due to my playing the hell out of Dragon Age:Origins, but I love the fact that I can mess with Twitter and Facebook on the 360 now . And even though I need to get used to how it’s set up (a little different from Pandora) Last.fm has possibilities. I can listen to Namie Amuro on there! I can’t do that with Pandora! Yay! And if you want some insight to my playings with Dragon Age, just go over my Twitter feed. Yes, Alistair has captured my heart. *sigh* Though Zevran is a close second. Magic Bosoms anybody!

Ok, I’m going to finish with my editing and then go to bed. Have to get on the horn with the landlord tomorrow or figure something out so we can all get showers, etc. Urgh!

 

Some musings about Stargate…

First, a quick personal update- Had a great time yesterday, even with the Children’s Fall Festival being canceled. The Youngest has gotten the short end lately- First the school and now the city canceling her chances of going out and being a kid at Halloween w/o us worrying too much. Great. But she still got dressed up and had a blast anyway! And her sister and the Marching Band made fifth overall at State yesterday! Yay! Very proud of the whole band, but especially of the Oldest. She has come along way and it certainly has not been easy for her, but she has proven that she can succeed!

Now for the rest of this entry, if you have no interest in fandoms and Stargate in particular, you may not want to venture much further. It’s not territory for those unfamiliar or don’t care how a Fandom for a show/movie/book works, especially in regards to the internet. You have been warned.

Before I go further though, check out this link to Joe Mallozzi’s blog. He is a Producer and Writer for the Stargate Franchise. I believe it was in and around seasons 3-4 of SG-1 that he started working with the franchise. I’ve been following his blog on and off for several years now and have come to enjoy it, and like him as a person. He’s a great guy and does something he doesn’t have to: Allows the fans an inside look into the creation process of their favorite show(s). Back to his recent blog post… It appears the supreme ugliness of fandom has reared its head. And this time a few of the actors in the show are being treated VERY unfairly for actions that their characters have made.

You may not care for the current version of Stargate, which is fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I know I was extremely unhappy with the latter part of season 5 of Atlantis. That is no secret, and it did start coloring my thoughts on the new series, Universe. I was high on that fence, distraught over how a few of my favorite characters were being treated, and seriously debating on whether or not I really wanted to be apart of the franchise anymore. I’d never felt that way in any other fandom, including Harry Potter, with that travesty of an epilogue. But I did. I kind of took a break for a little while, somewhat keeping up with everything, but nothing like I had been doing. Even let my busy real life take over and not really have anything to do with the forums. Then I discovered that Ming Na and Lou Diamond Phillips were cast on the new show, and I started to think maybe I’d give it a chance. It was that combined with the fact that I’d been missing my Stargate. For the longest time the show had been apart of my Friday nights and it felt wierd to not have it around. So, even though I did call it Stargate: 90210 and other lovely names, I watched it. I watched “Air” and was blown away. It was very much how I pictured Atlantis should have been. Dark and gritty, overall a survivor’s story. You are trapped in an alien place with people you barely know and placed in situations you have never dealt with before. SGU gets it. I still love and adore Atlantis, don’t get me wrong. Always will. But Universe takes Stargate as a whole, to a new level.

There are two actors in particular that have been facing the bashing, recently. Notice I said actors and not characters. One more so than another, I believe, but she has been feeling it too. I’ve been browsing over the forums and websites for Universe, and I must say that even with the infamous love triangle from Atlantis, I’ve never seen anything even remotely similar to this. In any fandom. Normally the fans are pretty good at separating the characters from the actors and leave the actors alone. Once in a while the comments on the characters can get out of hand, but no harm or ill will would be directed at the actor. Goodness knows the McKay/Keller/Ronon triangle stirred up A LOT of noise on all sides and everyone was guilty of stepping out of line. Even me. But I never attacked the actors. I may have said one or two things about the writers and producers (especially Martian Gero) but again, no intent of ill will or malice on their person. Just a venting session and expressing my need as a fan for the creators to wake up and smell the coffee. I even posted a comment on Joe’s blog asking him WTF were they all thinking! To me, I never got offensive about it. I was honestly reasoning things out and wondering what happened to my show! Yes, as a fan I consider it my show. Not ‘my’ as in I own it, but ‘my’ as in something I really enjoy and love/like/adore. There are some that take it waaaaayyyyy too personally and consider a show, etc. as wholly theirs and the creators have to bow down to their every whim. Yeah. Good luck with that one.

Brain J. Smith and Elyse Levesque have been getting more than the short end of the stick from several fans. I haven’t run across massive amounts of it for Elyse yet, but some of the comments would make me want to curl up in a ball and cry. Brian on the other hand, you could say he’s been harassed by the fandom. Not all of it, but the minority that can’t leave well enough alone and have to be complete dicks and assholes about it all. Originally he decided to leave Twitter all together (something fellow cast mate David Blue got him and the others into) because people were being VERY mean and disrespectful to him because of what his character, Lt. Matthew Scott, was doing on the show. First of all, it saddens me that there are people out there who cannot tell the difference between the character and the actor who plays them. They are not the same person. Seriously. From what I have been exposed to about Brain J. Smith, he is a very intelligent human being and a big sweetheart. I loved following him on Twitter and reading and watching his interviews. A very well-rounded person, especially for being so young. That and it helped with his open adoration of Cassy , an adorable puppy he decided to adopt. Then we have Lt. Matthew Scott. I can’t say a whole lot on him, since we haven’t seen all there is to about him. What I have been able to discern about the character is that he is a leader, even if he is fresh out of Officer’s School. The SGC wont let just anybody in, military wise. I believe they have learned their lesson in the past. Besides that, Col Young wouldn’t have placed him in charge had he believed that Scott would have failed. He’d have stuck with TJ, his other Lt. on the ship, someone he has KNOWN for sometime (according to spoilers) and obviously trusts. I know, I know. They brought religion into the show with making Scott a fairly die-hard Catholic. How dare they huh? Frankly I think it’s a nice addition to the character. And guess what, I’m not Christian, yet I can relate to Scott and his spirituality. Yes, I know, they also made him a ladies man in the regards that he and Lt. James were fuck buddies (or something similar, maybe something more), and then all of a sudden he’s sleeping with Chloe! THE HORROR! How could that happen! It’s not realistic and things like that never happen, in the military or in the civilian world!

And I hope you all realize that I was being sarcastic in those last few sentences. I think that many people are trying to just find something to nitpick at because they have nothing better to do. My only beef with the show so far has to do with the ship’s shields and how, if they could barely contain the hull breaches, then how could they with stand the energy from a star? As far as Scott being an unrealistic person and totally not true to Catholics or the military, I say this. Shut up, sit down and reflect on a few things. (I had to do something similar to the Atlantis Love Triangle.) First, Scott isn’t a real person. Second, though he is not representing ALL catholics and military personnel, he is human. Everyone has their flaws. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone looses their way at times. I’ve known many Catholics, some stellar citizens and others complete douchebags. Same with the military. And as far as it’s unrealistic for him and Chloe to hit the sheets as soon as they did, can you explain to me how the hell we have so many men and women getting married to each other within minutes of meeting each other? I need more than both hands to count the number of people I know (personally and otherwise) that have done that. Yes, Scott and Chloe didn’t get married, but they slept together. HELLO, big stressful situation and it has been shown that LT. Scott is a fan of sex, and I imagine he (like other men AND women) uses it as a stress reliever, besides the fact they all believed they were going to die. That doesn’t make Chloe (or the actress who plays her) a whore. Nor does it make her easy, a slut or anything else like that. I bet if things were different, that they would have taken more time to flesh things out, and started slowly. Thing is, circumstances didn’t allow for it, and they got swept up in the moment. Completely normal and natural, AT ANY AGE. True, it’s more common for the younger ones to do it, but I’ve seen it with us older folks too. And as far as the Frat regs for the military go, I don’t normally go for any characters that break them. But, as I realize it does happen in the real world, I am ok with Scott (to a degree) breaking the rules with the 2nd Lt. It seems that relationship went nowhere anyway, so unlike with all the Sam and Jack stuff from SG-1, I can deal with it.

If you don’t like the show because you believe the characters all suck, sleep around too much, and wear too much make up for a space drama/adventure show, then go away. Why bother watching it? There is no point in degrading the actors who play these characters. They just bring them to life and that’s it. They are not responsible for their actions. They are not evil. Hell, I can’t stand Dr. Rush, and am not a huge fan of Robert Carlyle, but I’m not sitting here bashing him into the ground. Dr. Rush is the character you are supposed to love to hate, very similar to Dr. Baltar in BSG and other characters on other show. He is an antagonist. He helps to keep the fans guessing and the other characters wondering WTF?! But I don’t want to see him off the show. Hell, my favorite character on the show so far, Col. Telford has been, for the most part, an asshole. But I still adore him and bear Lou Diamond Phillips no ill will for portraying him.

I do have to state this though. And this is of no fault of the creators behind the Stargate Franchise. I think a lot of fans became pre-disposed to hating SGU ( I was heading down that road) because A LOT felt Atlantis was getting the shaft to make room for the show. I don’t know how much truth there is in Atlantis being cancelled for that reason, and when you think about it, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. But I know that when Atlantis was canceled I felt betrayed by the franchise. I didn’t want it to go away. I didn’t care that there would be the promise of a movie, I wanted my show. Even with the whole McKeller relationship. I couldn’t have my SG-1 anymore, so I needed something. And Atlantis had the potential, IMO, to be even better than it was. I would have loved to have seen certain things be resolved and what not. Instead I was left feeling like I’d been shit on. I believe it was Sci Fi (still not doing it, folks, get over it) that created the end for the show. And I do have agree with a comment Joe M. made in his blog about the time that SG-1 ended. It was hard having the production staff working on two shows, at the same time. I bet that drove everybody nuts. I still wish Atlantis hadn’t been canceled, but I no longer begrudge Universe for it.

There are a few things coming up on the show, however, that are raising warning bells with me. Not in the same way that things went with Atlantis. And be warned, there are MAJOR SPOILERS on their way here. If you don’t want to know, read, no further…

Vader will protect you from spoilers!

In this next weeks episode, entitled “Earth” there is something that I think will happen. And I think this due to pictures I’ve seen from the official MGM website for Stargate. Now, Col. Young was having some problems with his marriage before taking command at the Icarus Base. I will not go into those details as of yet, but they mostly stem from him spending more time with his job than his wife. Now, during the episode of “Darkness”, Young uses the Ancient Communication Stones to go to Earth to report in. Since it didn’t take long at all for him to tell the higher-ups “We’re screwed”, he decided to take Col. Telford’s body (who he swapped with) to go see his wife, Emily. She was distraught, yadda, yadda, etc. Things didn’t go well. Fast forward time a little and apparently during “Earth” Young, Eli and Chloe leave the Pentagon, in the bodies of the people they swapped with and enjoy some time to themselves. Now granted, they just learned that the people they swapped with are going to be getting everybody off of Destiny and back to Earth, and I don’t have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is this, and I hope that TPTB treat it right, and show the consequences like they promise they will for many of the actions these people are making. Young goes to see Emily, and they end up making love while Young is in Telford’s body. I do have a problem with that. To me, that is akin to rape, and like I said, I hope TPTB show the consequences of those actions. Does it make for good drama- yes it does really. Do I hate the actors for going along? Hell no. Do I think less of the characters? Maybe. Haven’t decided yet.

Now, this is pure speculation on my part here, some rooted in spoilers that I’ve stumbled across from fairly reliable sources, but spoilers can still be wrong. I feel that when episode 15 “Lost” airs, that we will see the consequences of Young’s actions in the episode of “Earth”. A description of the episode mainly talks about Greer, but the B plot of the episode is about Col. Young and TJ having some personal issues come up. It most likely has to do with the “affair” these two had once upon a time, but I have a sneaking suspicion that something big will go down between Young, Telford and Emily due to Young using Telford’s body like that. A baby, perhaps? We all know Alania Huffman, who plays TJ, is pregnant in real life. There is a chance that the writers put that in the show, and it is very likely. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Emily ends up preggers or even wanting to run off with Telford after “Earth”. Wouldn’t that be something? Young wakes up one morning to find TJ is expecting his kid because of their affair, and Emily is now pregnant with Telford’s baby all because hubby had to get him some. LOL. Yup, a soap opera that does make. But I could be wrong, and they are just random thoughts that spring to mind. But I can imagine that Telford’s wife (he has to have one, or had one, the character is wearing a ring) wouldn’t be so hot about the usage of her husband’s body in that manner. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Ok, I think I’m done for now. To the people behind SGU, writers, actors, producers, etc, you all are doing a wonderful job! I thank you again for bringing my Friday nights back! I love you all for it!

Taking a quick break…

I’m taking a quick break while I’m trying to get caught up on chores. I was derailed this morning. I was hoping after making a few phone calls and doing some chores that I would have plenty of time before meeting the Youngest at the Bus Stop to get some cookies made and play a little Mass Effect. But… one of the calls derailed me and created more calls to make that ended up with me loosing my temper a bit, so I gave the phone the finger and walked away before I really lost it. I honestly do not care for telephones, and don’t really like talking on it. I will make exceptions for the Hubby and my mother. Which is funny, because sometimes when I do get on the phone I will be on it for a while. Messed up, yes. Anywho, I just walked away. It’s for the better.

Stargate: Universe. SPOIlERS AHEAD. Nothing in deep detail. I’ll save that for other spots. Yes, I am still watching it. And yes, I am still writing an SGU fic. So yes, I am enjoying the show. Telford, Wray and Young are up there in my favs among the characters. Greer, TJ, Scott and Eli are close behind. I like Chole fine, but she hasn’t really made that BIG of an impression yet. However, I can see her moving up in the ranks as her character becomes more fleshed out. Rush. Yeah, ok. I do have to say that in “Darkness” he impressed me with his meltdown. I’m not a huge RC fan, but he did a good job with that. Other than that, Rush is the character I love to hate. Am looking forward to further development of Telford and Wray. And for more info of the ‘relationship’ that has or is happening between TJ and Young. Especially with AH being pregnant. Did they write it into the show, or not? And if they did, will TJ be treated like Teyla was on Atlantis? One moment where I called BULLSHIT was in the eppy of “Light”. The whole thing with the star was cool, but, BUT, there are flaws (some have been nicely explained/theorized by others) that was hard to deal with. The shields that were supposedly unable to 100% help protect them from the hull breaches can protect them from the energy of a star? I think that is about the only spot in the entire show where no one has been able to explain to me that makes sense. I can see the practicality of using solar energy (or variations thereof) to power a ship like Destiny. It makes sense. BUT if the ship’s shields can’t help keep the holes in the hull from draining all the air out of the ship, then it’s not possible for them to withstand the power of a star. No way. Sorry. I can take leaps of faith and my perception of reality can be pushed aside for some things. But this wont leave me alone for some reason. I can get over Scott and Chole, very easy to see happen, and they did lead up to it, and yes hook ups like that DO happen in real life. But the shields and the star. *sigh* Oh well. Hopefully we will see more of Telford this Friday.

Saturday is gonna be a long day. Oldest is going with the Marching Band to the State Competition. She has to be there really early in the AM after being at the Football game the night before. They hit the field at about 1-ish I think. Awards are at 4, and then we rush back home for the Children’s Fall Festival that starts at 4 and goes to 8. Hoping weather and traffic cooperates with us that day so we can get everything accomplished. BTW, last weekend the band placed 4th at the Upper State Comp! This is great because if you look at how close the scores were between the top four places you can tell the judges were really close on who was the best. The space between 4th and 5th had a BIG gap, so it’s like there was a 4-way tie between them. Am very proud of the band! Also, since this is their last performance as the Marching Band, they are doing something special for the seniors and for Halloween as well, they asked the parents to all donate candy and stuff to hand out to the kids.

I will not be surprised if the Oldest decides she is too tired for the Fall Festival after the Comp. Hopefully she makes it through it because the Youngest really want to go. She’s all geared up for the Costume Contest (her age group wins a HUGE thing of candy donated by local businesses) and some special charities for the town are looking for food donations and she wants us to do that. I know she wants to help out her fellow-man, BUT her main motive is the fact that each donation gets you a raffle ticket to win a Wii. Yes, she really wants one, but Hubby and I both agree that we don’t want to spend money on it. The 360 is our main console that everyone plays, and the PS3 has become our Blu-Ray player. So the Wii is in the background for us, as a whole. About the only game that is Wii exclusive that would get attention is Animal Crossing. And I know she likes the idea of being able to play her DS games on it. I think if she does win it, that it will be the first time I will endorse putting a console in the kids’ room. We don’t let them have cable in there or the other consoles for the sole reason of they would be on it 24/7. But we have no room on our Ent. Center and the Wii is not really HD compatible. You can play it on there, but there is no difference between the screen quality between the HD TV or a SD TV. So we may as well put it in there.

Vader and Cujo had their day at the spa on Tuesday. They were good puppies and looked really cute! They also got to meet one of Hubby’s teachers. Now that they have had a good cleaning and nails clipped, I think next week we are going to start using the Rapid Bath that my mother-in-law got for us. We haven’t used it yet, mainly due to the weather (rain left and right) and because of the flea treatments. So Cujo will be going back on his once a week baths and I’m not sure about Vader. It was easier to bathe him with the Rapid Bath when we tried it out at Grandma’s, but he makes it difficult to dry him off. He hates that part.

I guess that’s it for now. I need to get back to work. Hopefully have some time to play Mass Effect before Survivor and Fringe start tonight. I’m getting this play through set up for Mass Effect 2 since we can continue with our game saves from the first one into the second one. I figure the game comes out in Feb, so I have time to get it set up just right.