Blather, rinse, repeat

So Monday was very hard, but honestly it was not as hard as the weekend that came before. I don't want to write too many of the details, except to say that it was really time for Trisky to go. The decision wasn't a easy one by any means. Well I mean, the decision was, but deciding on when it would be, how much I was willing to try, that was the hard part. On one hand I had a few vets telling me that it was possible to stretch it out over a few weeks. On the other hand, me thinking, "But why? This is terrible." So on Monday night Dr. Jenn and my good friend Donna came over after work, way out of their way. And then they took Trisky back with them for private cremation, which means I get her ashes back in an urn. It's been a few days and I still kind of can't believe I'm writing that.

Then there was the thing with my x ray, from when I went to the ER on Sunday. I get a call from the ER Monday about the x ray, but you know, I'm not picking up the damn phone so I'm like, whatever. Tuesday, nothing. Then on Wednesday I go out with my cousin Chrissie and we get our hair done (mine in red streaks all over the place, which was awesome for the first few hours until I washed it and now they are brown streaks,) and when I get home I have another call from the ER.

Well the lady I spoke to was really nice, but she was like, "Well, there is something on your x ray that we're sure is not a bone lesion, it's probably an artifact, but we have to follow it up to make sure." An artifact is like the medical way of saying "a mistake in the x ray." But just hearing 'bone lesion" over the phone, which is what I heard about Trisky on Friday, was like, YOU HAVE GOT TO BE EFFING KIDDING ME. So I told my parents because I had the appointment with the orthopedist on tuesday coming up (that's this coming tuesday,) and my Da totally freaked out. So that kind of sucked, and that's been hanging over my head for a while.

Thursday I went xmas shopping, and then on Friday I decided that I was bored and even though the doctors had told me to not be putting any weight on my leg, I couldn't sit around any more and so I went back to work. That was yesterday.

Working on Friday is so different from what it used to be. It used to be me and Casse, then for a while it was me, Casse and Jennel or me, Casse and Tanya. That was a terrific team. We always worked closely together and we had such a fantastic time. The day flew by. Then Jennel left on leave and now Casse is gone, and it's not the same. I get frustrated really easily on Fridays and I rely on my friends in the lab to, I don't know, keep me amused and keep me on my toes. It's just become a very frustrating day for me because I have to deal with certain things, certain issues that should not be mine to deal with, and I have very little patience for these kinds of things to begin with.

So anyway, yesterday still had the chance to be decent, if it hadn't so happened that Michelle, someone who used to work with us, came down from Maine to have her beloved dog Chant put to sleep. A little background on Chant: she was one of my favorite dogs. Here's the other weird thing. Both she and Trisky were 13. Chant's birthday was the day before mine, and Trisky's birthday was the day before Michelle's. We had always halfway joked that we would probably lose them at around the same time. Chant outlived Trisky by four days. It was such a sad way to break up the day. Michelle looked exactly like I did on Monday: a total wreck. I took her by the arm and said "I have to show you something," then I led her back to the hall where we keep the records of deaths and euthanasias. I pointed out Trisky's highlighted name at the bottom of the page, and we both just busted out crying. It was very hard, the whole deal.

Then there was last night and this morning. Okay, so my crow Lohi'au, right? Otherwise known as Havoc, because no one wants to either spell or pronounce Lohi'au? And because havoc is what he causes, naturally. Well, he figured out how to work all the locks on his cage ages ago, so since aroudn summertime I've resorted to just putting a bungee cord across the doors to keep him in. He's been trying to work them out for months. Last night he simply bit through the cord. Oh, he didn't get out or anything. Instead he chewed through the cord, dragged the entire works into his cage, and went for it. Around 1 AM, right before I was going to bed, I went to give him some food for the morning so he wouldn't scream at sunrise, and I found the chewed up cord. And only one of the metal hooks. I tore the cage apart looking for the other metal hook and couldn't find it. So consequently I spent most of the night trying to get to sleep, and when I managed to sleep, having dreams about finding him dead in the morning.

First thing this morning I took him down to work for an x ray. (And while waiting, met my lovely co-worker Scooter, an employee I'd never had the pleasure of working with, but she's so sweet, and a huge 30STM fan. She was even wearing the t shirt.) Anyway, so we put Havoc in a box and set him on the x ray table. Jane took the x ray.

The first in the break from bad news! No metal hook inside my crow! I have no idea where the damned thing got to--I can imagine and only hope that I threw it away with the newspapers last night while panicking--but it's not inside of my crow and that is a good thing.
( This is my crow's wee little bones! )
Precious.

And then while I was out, unbeknownst to me, my Da went to the ER, got my x rays (I guess he's allowed to do that because he's next of kin?) and took them to his doctor who took him in right away to look at them. Then that doctor told my Dad that there was nothing to worry about concerning my x rays (which I more or less knew, but it's still good to hear,) but that I still needed to follow up with an orthopedist because of the usual structural problems I still have (which I also already knew.) But anyway, that was a good thing!

( Look at that sexy leg bone! )

THEN!! Chrissie got a phone call telling her that Gavin--hers and Timmy's soon-to-be adopted son and my god)dess)son?--has his "interview" on Monday, and shortly after that they should be receiving their travel call. So it could very well be that I will have a new god(dess) son by next week and Chris and Tim will finally, FINALLY after all of these years, have their baby!

Now how awesome is that? Very.

And in the meantime, my little pack of wild dogs has been having some serious coping issues, and also we've been having some serious winter weather. I've got pictures (naturally) to document both of these things.

Weirdly enough, when Trisky got sick, the two boys started fighting more, having these weird little contests. (Of note: Haku randomly freaked out at my Mom and Dad's house the second Dr. Jenn put the injection in Trisky--I heard him from where I was. And since then, Haku can't sleep, and he keeps staring at the place where her bed used to be and crying. I think I've sold him short. He's kind of a retard but he may be deeper than I'd given him credit for.)

Anyway, since Trisky has been gone, I've been seeing more and more of ( this kind of thing from them: )

It starts out as play and then escalates into a real contest that I usually have to break up by taking their toys away. I think they forget that the alpha spot is not up for grabs.

Other than that and their obvious sense of loss, they are their usual dummy selves.
( OH NOEZ TEH FIRE ALARM! )

( And still handsome. )

And aside from that, the ice storms. ( Of course I have pictures! )

We're expecting another huge ice storm tonight, so locals and people traveling into this area, stay warm and be safe.

And that's me, updated.

ETA: The beginning of "Snoopy And The Red Baron" is just like the beginning of MCR's song "Mama." True story.

THIS WAS WRITTEN YESTERDAY:
The goings on lately:

Trisky hurt her leg right after Thanksgiving, trying to get up the stairs after having yanked her staples out. I took her to work with me, where of course her limp disappeared and she was leaping around like a maniac. Rob sent her home on buffered aspirin. She seemed to do okay for a while. Then the next day, the stupid neighbor's little crappy white dog tried to storm the gate, and Trisky of course went ballistic. She tried to go through the gate like she always does. I was in the back yard with Haku so I didn't see exactly what happened, but I heard her make this horrible yipe noise, more like a scream, and I went running figuring she had twisted her leg or foot again or something. But instead it looked more like she had gotten her front leg stuck in the gate and had pulled it out. Then her limp got really bad. She can hardly put any weight on it. I'm going to take her for X rays tomorrow. OH MY GOD, A BREAK IF YOU PLEASE. "Break" meaning, "a rest, something good for a change," of course. Just to clarify.

Work has been a drag, especially Fridays which I used to love. First Casse left, now the new girl Angelica has had to leave because her baby is sick. Not severely sick or anything, she just needs more time at home. That leaves only me on Thursdays and two of us on Fridays and lemme tellya, this ain't pretty, not at all. And with the holidays coming up and us about to get bombarded, it's going to just get uglier.

Lao Shir came into work on Thursday to pick up some meds for her cat and we started chatting. She was telling me about this african gray parrot who was so outstandingly brilliant, not only in speaking but interpretation, that he had become famous. My good friend Mrs. You Should Have Plastic Surgery was there listening in on our conversation and chiming in with "Wooooow. Oh myyyyy. Beauuuuutiful. Lao Shir and I were giving her the side-eye like, WTF? Anyway, I want to find out more about that parrot. The story gave me the willies.

Last night after work Kim came over. We didn't even watch a movie, we just talked endlessly. I also didn't even bother to have dinner. Last night for dinner I ate a pint of ice cream and about a quarter pound of raw cookie dough. But tonight I hd salad and tomorrow I'm going to make something yummy. I bought some fruit (vegetable? who the hell knows?) called "butterscotch" and I didn't even know it was a real food. I'll have to taste it to see what I'm going to do with it.

After grocery shopping I went out with my Mom. It's about 30 degrees here today, and I've been waiting since last Spring to wear my awesome, extra long hat that I bought in March. I got to wear it, and caught my reflection in the car window, with the Chinese coat and the weird, long knitted hat and I thought--not for the first time--I'm "one of those people." One of those people that are charitably called "eccentric." I'm okay with that. ( This is the best hat ever. )

Then after that I went to buy my tree. You know, I have a lot of weird hangups about The Tree and all of this. For those of you who have only just met me, it's like this: I have absolutely convinced myself that I get the same tree every year. This is so that when the time comes to drag it, dead and dry, out the door in January, I don't feel so bad; I just tell it, "See you next year!" and then I look for the same one next year. ("Eccentric" tips over into "neurotic.") My other thing is that I've always taken Shinigami to get the tree, always. I've never not. For about eight years it's been me and Shinigami. (Once again, for those people I've only recently "met:" Shinigami is my Caddy, the car that pretty much more or less stopped running, forcing me to get my first new car, Ronin the Elantra.) Well, actually Shinigami was all right to go today, so I took him out. The drive was literally .3 miles from my house so it was okay. I talked to Shinigami the whole way there and back. ("Neurotic" tips over into "obsessive.")

Anyway, I have my tree, and it's a big'un.

Oh! Then I was taking the dogs back inside and I saw this big old adorable wolf spider trying desperately to get under the shingles outside to keep warm. He was all sluggish and moving slowly and looked just about dead. I caught him and brought him inside to put in the laundry room. First of all, I love spiders. Secondly though, I can't stand watching anything struggle like that. ANd third, I think it was ( this dude: )

He was in the same general area as where that pic was taken and just, I dunno, looked like the same spider. So I put him in the house.


And this was written today!

I decided to take Trisky to EEVEC today because of her leg. ( Here's basically what's happened: )

While today really sucked kinda badly, there were some good things, too. People over at BlogBelieve know why that is. ^_^ It's because you guys are awesome, and because of our visit from SS. Anybody not love that dude and his hat-tipping? Seriously.

So I also bought Trisky a coat because today was the first snowfall and it's been bitter cold. She's got such a thin coat to begin with. So I took all the dogs out and while I was out there, I took some pics.

( Here are some winterish pics, mostly with dogs involved. )

( And here are some pics of my decorations and my tree: )

( And these are random ones; a few that I took yesterday and some that I stole off my Mom's camera while I was borrowing it. Some of these go back to Halloween and even before: our collective birthday party. O_O )

That's about it! Now I'm going to make dinner, then it's off to Tai Chi in the cold, cold night. O_O Damn.

This week has been both fun and productive. Let's see, on Sunday I met this really cute guy, I mean he was so goodlooking that I wanted to take a picture to prove that he was sitting with me. ^_~ We went to Panera and talked about movies, cars, and who should live or die. Because he thinks that most stupid blockbuster movies are dumb and he drives a Volvo, I'd probably go hang with him again. We're not dating because that's too much pressure. We decided we're just chillaxing with another cool person. I like chillaxing.

We both had to leave around 4:30, and then I rushed to dinner, and then had that new class I may or may not have mentioned for various reasons. I guess it's okay to mention it regardless of lurkers; I mean, it's my money, my time, my body. My first Kung Fu teacher, Lao Shir, some of you know she was battling a really aggressive cancer and had to stop teaching. That was about a year and a half ago, maybe to years. Anyway, it is the most aggressive blood cancer and yet she beat it (*knock madly on wood!*) and she has decided to go back to teaching a specific kind of Tai Chi. It's very advanced and really difficult, really precise. There are two classes, a basics / warmup, and then an advanced one with forms. The forms ones will eventually have weapons. Weapons. Broad sword, straight sword and spear. OMG. Not only that, but it's at this gorgeous building that used to be a schoolhouse, the architecture is kind of European, with arched doorways and stucco walls outside, and a huge studio inside. The class was both tiring and really invigorating. I'm in it for the long haul! Not only that, but I can't even tell you how good it felt to be learning from her again. And a few of my old training sisters were there, too, who I never get to see anymore. I was hoping that my long-lost training brother would show up, but I don't think he can make it. Alas. God, but I wish he could.

( Anyway, here are two pics of the outside of that building at night: )

That was Sunday. Monday I went mad house-cleaning and then to Kung Fu, where we're doing this fantastic drill that I might have mentioned, the whole "feed the opponent the shrimp balls" move. Basically you're ripping someone's nuts off and stuffing them into his mouth--that is the actual application--but the moves themselves are just so awesome. We also did major punching and kicking drills against the bag.

Tuesday was work as usual. It goes faster with my Crackberry and I can check my Mystery Blog and chat with my BlogBelieve friends, but either way, Tuesdays still drag.

Today I went shopping with my Da for some lights for my kitchen. I found the perfect ones, ones I actually like that go with the whole decor thingie, and they were only like 49 bucks! Imagine! But they aren't swag, so my Da has them now and he's converting them for me. Awesome. After light-shopping I baked a pie. No, seriously. I totally baked a pie. And it is my own recipe, too. It's apple-pomegranate pie. I use all organic, unprocessed, fair-trade ingredients. I even made the crust myself too. Then I used brown sugar instead of white sugar. I haven't tasted the actual pie itself but the filling was like the Big Bang of deliciousness. I listened to Japanese traditional music, Leonard Cohen, and Mozart while I baked. It was neat.

Also, I would just like to add that it is what we call "peak season" out here in the tri-state. The fall colors are overwhelming. Out here on the Island, we so very much love our trees. Me, I'm surrounded by them and I wouldn't have it any other way. On the way home from the store while my Da was driving I was trying t take pictures of the trees lining the LIE and other roads. I kinda failed miserably but I did get some ones at home.

( Lots of fall colors: )

Kinda sucky photos but you get the idea.

Then tonight in Kung Fu, fabuously enough, one of my most favoritest training brothers was down from college and I got to see him. It was great and all, but it made me nostalgic for the days when there were more of us. I miss Chris C. Erica, Mitzi, Joe and Dave. I miss them so hard.
( This is us, the original crew with Lao Shir. )
Except that Dave and Joe are missing from that pic, damnit. I never did get one of all of us. >_> I want to paste them in there.

Anyway, the warmup was as it usually is when Dave and I are in the same room together: part workout, part comedy hour. Then afterwards we did drills against the bags again, which turned into an informal contest of who could kick the bags actually over. Because we all knew that we were going to eat until our collective face fell off tomorrow, we trained like whoa, all of us. I was actually out of breath and sweaty, which doesn't tend to happen no matter how hard I push myself. I think we all actually overdid it. Then Chris K. let blackbelt warmup and he decided to be really sadistic tonight. He even had this sadistic little grin on his face. It was kind of precious, but I like the boy so what isn't? I know that I'll be cursing him in two days time, though. After that, we went back to the nut-ripping/feeding drill and we partnered with it. Obviously we didn't actually do the nut-ripping part.

Also tonight, Rita (who used to train but now her daughter Jess does,) brought in these awesome cupcakes that I was eyeing all night and couldn't wait to ge tmy hands on. I made a mention of the fact that tomorrow I was going to do nothing but sit around getting fat anyway and Sifu said, "You'll never get fat. I don't think it's possible. When you turn sideways I can't see you." Which is something I've never heard before in reference to myself. So I scarfed down a cupcake. It's not a lack of eating, with me, it's really just the hardcore workouts.

Well, tomorrow is TG and of course I have to effing work really early, which blows. But at least I'll be home early, too, and I will, in fact, eat until my face falls off. Uncle Don, Betsy, Jo-chan and SB and SB's adorable girlfriend are coming for dinner. I can tell you exactly how this will go. Betsy will bring wine. She'll open it with great flair, say, "It's an amusing little wine" to which I will reply, "hilarious." She, Mom and I will drink it and we'll get tipsy before dinner. SB, Jo-chan, Uncle Don and probably SB's girlfriend and I will play video games, likely Guitar Hero until dinner. After dinner, Jo-chan will go on Dad's computer and show us funny videos on Youtube. The thing is, I can't imagine a better holiday than that.

Then I work all damn day Friday, and it's going to be hellishly busy. But on Saturday my friend Kelly and I are going for a massage, which is all kinds of YAY. Also Chris K mentioned about doing open mat on Saturday. The school is closed but a bunch of us have keys so we might go in and try to work off Thursday's dinner. Or, I'll sit around being a lazy cow. Haven't decided yet. Then Sunday is Lao Shir's class again. Full circle, my darlings.

Happy whatever for tomorrow. I don't celebrate the betrayal of Native Americans but I do love to be with my family and I do love to eat until my face falls off. I hope you guys are all equally blessed.

Today really blew. Tai Chi went fine and Hula was beginning to go fine, up until I took out my new Crackberry to show it off to Claudine. I was like, "Hey, look at the screen!" and I turned it on and saw that I had an email. All excited, I checked it really quickly, only to find it was from my cousin Tim across the street. "Your dog is at the vet's, your Mom can't get in touch with you!"

Oh my god.

So I used said Blackberry to call work and got Jenn W. who told me that it was all taken care of. Haku had a really extreme allergic reaction to one of the vaccinations he got yesterday. Like, really extreme, he vomited everywhere, and his face swelled up enormously. The crazy thing was that when I left him at my parents' early this morning, he was perfectly fine.

He's better now, and he's on Benedryl for a while. He still looks all puffy though.

My dogs have had a rough week.

I'm having one, too. I'm meeting up with that guy tomorrow, and can I just tell you that it's been years since I met up with someone I, well, hadn't already met? Years. At any rate, we are going to Panera by the airport, so if I disappear, you guys will know where I was supposed to have been. Must to leave a trail. ^_~ Anyway, that's in the afternoon. Then I come home, have a quick dinner, then run back out for this class that I'm taking; it is a way advanced Tai Chi / weapons class with my first Kung Fu instructor. A little nervous about that, too! Tomorrow I am going to be all kinds of out of my comfort zone. So I've rewarded myself with a pint of ice cream for tomorrow night. ^_^

Today I bought a bunch of stuff for baking etc., all organic and fair trade. I'm going to try to make a killer apple pie for thanksgiving which I don't celebrate. Well, I celebrate being with my family and having lots of food, but not the whole "let's pretend to be friend with Native Americans and then slaughter them wholesale" thing. Obviously. Anyway, the apple pie is going to be a disaster, I'm sure of it. Actually I might make it an apple / pomegranate pie, because if it's going to suck anyway, I might as well be daring. Right?

( I might have mentioned that I have a really high kick. )

I'm working on being able to hold that pose without having someone hold my leg up. Then it would be really impressive. ^_^

Welp! I'll be sure to post again after tomorrow, when given the chance. :D

( This is what happened to my darlin'. )

But she's doing worlds better. The Rymadil is taking the edge off, so much that she keeps trying to run. The best part is that MOST of her senior workup is done, and everything is fine. (*knocking madly on wood!*)

Monday night going to Kung Fu, I had the worst headache. I guess the entire day had just settled into one small spot right behind my eyes. I could hardly get through the warmups; kept telling Tracy that I thought I had an eye tumor or something. You know that kind of headache where it makes you thirsty? No!? I get that kind a lot and everytime I ask that of someone, they look at me like I'm crazy. Seriously though, that thirst-headache! Okay, maybe it's just me.

Anyway, so Sifu came in and he said we were going to do something cool. Boy, did we ever. We did this one drill that was the bomb; just the movements alone. Not to be shallow or anything, but it just looked really cool. We added a few more hand movements to it and then Sifu explained what it was. I can't remember the Chinese but the translation was something like, "to feed the opponent shrimp balls." The movement is grabbing your opponent's testicles, ripping them off, and shoving them in his mouth. It kind of made me both laugh and want to vom a bit. My headache was gone by haalfway through it though, whether by focusing on trying to get it right, or focusing on the question, "Could I really ever do this to anyone? In any situation?" Because I tend to think that I wouldn't.

Yesterday I got an email from a very beloved friend and teacher. She is going to teach an extremely advanced class and she invited me. There's just no way I can refuse. Thrilled me to the core, though.

I got that email while at work, on my brand new Blackberry! ^_^ I kept the silly thing with me all day. It's beautiful. Thy only downside is that there is one web page that I really like to go to (even though it exploded last night, really messily,) and the page is way too big for the Blackberry to load. I was like, Come on! The one thing I really want to see! But even still, I just clipped it onto my back pocket while I was at SITF, and felt comforted knowing that the entire internet was right there... on my ass. Awesome.

Oh, wait, these two pictures, because one is just kinda nice and one is just kinda funny.

( These are all my Ninja Wizards. )
This was, you can see, right before Halloween. I got them all to stand by me in relative peace for a moment. And to be honest, they are usually exactly like that. That is kind of how it mostly is; just the four of us, chillaxing.

( PLAY BOW! )
I play bow to the dogs and they go crazy. That's Sano you see there giving me the side-eye. He's such a fruit-cake. But on the other hand, there's me, play-bowing to my dog and looking like a doofus. I just thought that was pretty funny. ^_^

Those coming over from BlogBelieve, hello. Not sure exactly how to deal with Mr. Boddy.

A very confused poppet.

I skipped out of Kung Fu today because this is my holiday and I have to be around to answer the door and be spooky. I'm a tradition for some of the local children and I always feel really badly when I'm not home, and I find out the next day that people were wondering where I was. They call it "that Halloween house," and I have to say I really out-did myself this year. Actually it is mostly because my Dad bought me a fog machine which also plays spooky music and has sound effects. It's really neat and the kids love it. They use the low-hanging trees and shrubs to hide behind and they scare the hell out of each other, it's great. Just before I heard two little girls going, "This is really scary. I think it's haunted for real!" One of them told me, "Your house looks so haunted. I was scared!" She was about seven, it was so cute, and I don't even really like the little brats. But I kind of like them all on Halloween. (ETA: One of the kids just told her sister, "Are these trees real? These trees make this house look evil!" OMG I love it. The trees, obviously, are around all year.)

It's a big house and I'm on the bottom floor, and sometimes the kids get lost going around and end up coming around the wrong way. They pass by the sunroom and they all come out gabbing about "That huge black bird in there!" It made me just a little sad, or nostalgic, because when I had Pendragon in there they'd all come around all freaked out and wondering if "that huge blue lizard!" was real. I'd tell them he was, and then I'd take him out of his cage and sit him across my shoulders. I couldn't really let them pet his head because he might've taken one of their little fingers for himself. He was a vegetarian, but he, uhh, cheated sometimes. ^_^ once in a while I miss him so much.

Also, today I'm really just feeling the whole Halloween thing, err, I mean the real Halloween, Samhain.

Also, Havok is acting all crazy today. He started cawing at around 8 AM and I was like, "SHUT UP! CAN YOU PIERCE THE VEIL AFTER TEN PLEASE! THANK YOU!" Then I went and spent some time with him and he was all getting in my face and giving me looks that can only be described as "mysterious." He also kept grabbing my necklace and trying to shove it in my mouth, so maybe that's not so mystical after all.

( There he is trying to shove the necklace in my mouth. )

( And I just thought this was a neat picture, a Goth and her crow. )
(I bought that skirt today at Target and it's kind of momentous because it's a size one, which puts me in a high state of WTF. These sizes run really big though. I think a lot of companies sell clothing bigger and make the size number smaller so more women will buy them. I am not a size one and I never will be.

( Here is a beautiful closeup of Havok: )

( Havok eating my books. )
That's a lot funnier if you look at the titles of those books.

( The yard at night, only without the fog. )
Very hard to photograph the fog in the dark! My camera tries to focus on it and everything else goes blurry.

( Oh,and here is my little display on my kitchen table. )

Okay, now the kids are starting to show up in their day clothes, and some don't even say "trick or treat." Umm, put a little effort into it or you're getting nothng but Dots from me. ^_~ Nah, I could never actually do that.

Welp, I'm gonna set down to watch Addams Family movies and then try to chat with this really, really, really ridiculously good-looking guy. Sounds like a well-rounded Halloween, yes?

ETA: You know, I just have to add something about that skirt. It's adorable. It's by that new designer, Alice somebody, she does a line for Target (that's my main clothing store!) and I'm pretty sure she designed that Libertine stuff that I liked a few months ago; it's similar. (Affordable goth.) Anyway, it's cotton lined, velvet outside with pockets on either side and big black buttons around the rims of the pockets. And it's teeny-wee, which I certainly don't mind. That ZZ Top song, "Legs"? One of my favorites. ;D

Wow, so my keyboard totally up and died to the point of me not being able to use it. I got a new one yesterday courtesy of a gift card from my wonderful friend Kim, for my birthday. So I have a lot of catching up to do! And TON of pics.

Friday was way too much fun. At work we had a birthday party for the three of us birthday gals, Nancy F. and I with our birthdays on the same day, and Nancy M. with hers the day after. Here was our awesome cake!

( HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BITCHES! )

( And the birthday bitches themselves! )
I know, we rule so hard at my job. Don't you wish you worked with us?

After work that night Kim came over for our usual. We caughtup on a lot, like her recent trip home to Germany etc. while we went out for pizza and ice cream. Back at my house, I forced her to watch Kung Pow. I'd warned her the last time I saw her (in September!) that we'dbe watching this one, and she was all, "I'm going to hate it!" I was like, "You'll like it, and you'll like it!" Sure enough she laughed, abiet reluctantly, through most of the movie. I mean, it's a classic, how can you not? WEEEEOOOOOH! Then we just talked well into the small hours, as usual. Which was fantastic because I have been in the Bat Cave for about a month and haven't talked to anyone in like, just about ever.

Then Saturday was our costume party at the Soundview. My costume this year was made of win; I went as a dark mermaid/water fairy thing. What I did was, I took a dress that I had, which was brown and gold and yellow. Two layers, pretty, but really, really translucent and I could never wear it. I cut it up and painted it with acrylics, then I hot glued sea-glass, shells, "scales" (blue-green sequins,) and fishing net all over it. I made a head-piece out of shell necklaces, painted myself up, and sprayed my hair green and blue (NEVER AGAIN! It took me like twelve days to wash it out.)

( This is how I did my makeup: )

( And this is a better view of the dress: )

There were many awesome costumes at the party. The funniest were ( Barbie and Ken in their boxes: )

( Here's the group of us that went together: )

( And Jane flipping the bird. )

( And... WUT? Well I mean, look at the way she was dressed )

( This is a blurry picture of the dance floor. )
This is kinda what the whole night looked like to me. No, I wasn't drunk, just dancing.

The DJ kind of sucked, he didn't have a lot of good songs. I actually requested "Spin Spin Sugar" by the Sneaker Pimps and the guy was like, "That's a great song! Yeah! Sorry, I don't have it though." >_> The dance floor was never empty though, and there were many, many gay men to dance with. There was this one older couple, they were so awesome. Both of them in white suits, with their silver hair sprayed pink. Not once did I see them leave the dance floor, not until around 1 AM which is when I left.

Someone entered me into the costume contest, but I bailed before the judging. There was this one guy there dressed as a breathalizer test, with the blowing pipe thing on his crotch, slightly clever and very amusing. The weirdest was this lady on a gurney with stirrups like she was having a baby (where the hell do you get a gurney?!) and a mirror between her legs, I kid you not. And the mirror had all pink foam around it. I WAS DISTURBED. Then there was this other guy dressed as a dog, and he kept dancing next to me or behind me and his stupid tail kept going up my dress. Oh, but the funniest was these three short dudes, I mean really short, and all drunk and dancing terribly. One of them got so involved on the dance floor, trying to breakdance and just flopping around like an idiot, that the DJ tried to send him away. Eventually his friend came and dragged him off. It was hilarious.

I got home around 1:45, took a shower and watched the water run blue and green for a long time.

I'm pretty sure that yesterday I sat around drinking tea and reading an anonymous blog that I have become addicted to. No, you may not have the URL, I don't want it spoiled. I couldn't write anything because my keyboard was busted, so I answered everything with copied and pasted Taking Back Sunday lyrics. Strangely perfect.

Aaaaaand, today so far has just been housework, playing with my crow, playing with the dogs, doing laundry, and taking my plumeria plant inside. It frosted for the first time last night. It is finally cold. For most of this month it has been in the 70s and once or twice it went into the mid 80s, I ask you, WTF. Last night and today it's really effing cold. On Wednesday I will have to take about an hour and get the white ginger dug up and brought in, which blows because it's blooming like freaking crazy right now. Ah well.

I'm so cold that I can't wait to be doing Kung Fu in my long sleeves tonight, I swear.

Well! That's that. Tomorow is Tuesday... UGH! Tuesdays never end!

I've been trying to write this entry for like a week and just never got a chance to post it. So to keep myself from spamming with a bunch of separate entries, I'm just gonna put it all in one and lj cut much of it.

One thing that happened on Tuesday I want to remember. My friend just came back from Ireland and she bought me this beautiful gift. It's a buckskin colored cotton throw, Celtic knots all surrounding an image of who I think is the goddess Brigid; at any rate she's holding a sword and she's got a dog with her. She got it for me to thank me for sending good vibes to her flights and all of her traveling. She also said, "It's you, see? Because she's a warrior. And she has a dog." Dude, I nearly busted out crying. (Some warrior! Getting emo over gifts. ^_^ ) I have it on my couch and I keep looking at it. The color is so cool and unique.

( From Thursday and Friday, some funny things at work: )

I also have some pics from work those two days.

( On thursday, we actually did have that bloodbath.  )

( Anyone want a kitten? This made me so emo! )

Let's see, what else happened this week? Oh, of course. HO, SNAP!!!! Okay, way off topic and something to really inspire me. Is this for real? Stephen Colbert running for president? I mean I know it's a snark-run, but still.

Even bigger news: Dumbedore is gay! I love you for this, JK Rowling. I love you for your "argument for tolerance" and having a positive gay character. But why the hell couldn't you say these things in the book itself? Once in a while these things she does feel tacked on. Like the "real ending" of the book that she didn't write. I think JKR is a terrific role model and superfly entertaining writer and I look up to her a lot. But once in a while these sorts of things annoy me just a little. Yes, most people will go back and re-read the books to see it in a whole new light, and that's kind of neat. But a simple, "by the way, he's gay" in the prose would have been cool. I felt the same away about the entire ending of the series.

Right, so that's the pointless stuff I wrote on Thursday and Friday.

Yesterday started out with early morning Tai Chi, just me, Chris, Lee and Raq. And of course Sifu. And of course Raq's puppy Onyx, who always joins us. He jumps on the matt and runs around throwing his toys at us, or jumping up to bite or lick during stretches. He's the cutest thing and he's totally in love with Chris. Everytime Chris gets on the floor, Onyx needs to be all over him. (Admittedly he's really good-looking, but Onyx should have no concern for this.)

( Onyx just loves him to death. )

( He also loves his Mommy. )

That was all too adorable. Then I jetted home and cleaned my house as quickly as I could, because I hadn't been home to do it all freaking week and my brother James was coming out really early, like noon. I managed to get it all done and get Havok's cage all cleaned up, too.

( Jimmy brought over some pastries that cracked me up. )

We were at my parents' and we just sat around gabbing. I only see my brother once every two years or so, so there's always so much to talk about. It always goes back to things like music (he's a classical guitarist,) politics (stuff he was saying about Bush, the war, the ecomony, health care etc. and especially one comment that Bush and Bin Ladin were two sides of the same coin made me bang my palm on the table in agreement like Fenster in The Usual Suspects. "THERE YA GO!") He told me he met Joaquin Phoenix and I just about died. (My brother works on the Conan show.) He said that Joaquin was walking around outside of his dressing room and Jimmy asked him if the dressing room was okay, and Joaquin said, "Yeah it's fine. It's just hot in there." My reply? "zOMGzz I BET IT WAS!!!!1111" He also said that Joaquin was really super nice and polite, but terrified of elevators. Could I love Joaquin any more? No. I could not. Then we talked about when MCR was on a few years ago and I asked, "Did you see when the lead singer and the guitarist kissed each other after the performance? And it wasn't supposed to be on film?" He was like, "Uhh, yeah...." I got all, "OMG! He was standing right there during a historical Frank/Gerard kiss!" How funny is that?

Chris and Tim showed up next; the other two birthday people. Chrissie and Jimmy haven't seen each other in a few years, and Jimmy has never met Tim before. I'm glad they finally got to meet! Right after that Gran came up; the last of the birthday cluster for this year. Da and Jimmy went out to get pizza. Once he got back, Uncle Don, Betsy and Meghan showed up. I just don't get to see any of these people often enough, you know? Soon after, Spencer drove up, too. We had pizza and then birthday cake.

( Everybody sang. Sort of. )

( MOAR PICS. )

I got some birthday money from Gran and my aunt and uncle, awesome Target gift card from Chris and Tim, and my folks got me the pro-shiatsu computer chair back thingie (I had one for years but I broke it from overuse!) and the GODFATHER GAME!! OMG! I just need a memory card and then I can veg out and play it. It looks like loads of fun. You can ice people and rough them up, and you get to read Tom Hagen's report. I gave my brother a computer program for changing music formats and putting tapes, records etc. onto CD and mp3 players and editing out noise of older recordings. I got my Gran a Claddagh pin for her coat and some imported Irish lotion, and I got Chris and Tim a candle in a glass holder that matches the theme of their yard and bathroom, and each of them a gift card, Chrissie to Wild By Nature and Tim to Best Buy.

The rest of the night we sat around telling ghost stories, hilarious stories, and fight stories. Because this family is all about the supernatural, humor, and violence. It is the best kind of day, because all of my favorite people are in the same room together, and that only happens once a year, if even that.

Today is so mellow. I already went grocery shopping early and also got some toys for the Ninja Wizards and for Havok. I got him these shiny plastic bird-safe toys and he is freaking out over them, he won't put them down. One of the toys that I got for Sano had an important life message on the package.
( THIS IS TRUE. )

I can either write some nonsense junk that no one will ever read but me, put away my laundry, or play my new video game. Except I don't have a memory card for that yet so it might have to wait. Oh, I also bought the Transformers DVD so I will watch that tonight while eating a pomegranate. I kinda really love Autumn!

Oh, remember last night I posted that random babble about the Leathermouth show, about Joaquin Phoenix and how I was in love with the fact that Adam Lazzara stutters? Can I Lazzara-fanpoodle a little more for a sec? Good, I thought you'd be okay with it.
( Reasons why this will be my desktop for a few ages )

"L-O-L. That means 'laugh out loud!'"

Hope you've all had just as fine a weekend as I have. ^_^

Wow, I have lots of catching up to do. Well first and most importantly, Saturday's baby shower was fantastic. It all went smoothly, there was more than enough food, everyone seemed to have a great time. I kept turning to Chrissie and saying, "Chris... it's your baby shower!" The actual party really brought the fact straight home. I'm so thrilled that their dream is finally coming true. Now they just need the baby.

Anyway, here are some pics from that day.

( Here is the cake that I designed and iced.  )
That stupid crappy flower is supposed to be the rose of Sharon, which is the Korean flower. The ladybug is the Korean symbol for motherhood, or children on the way. The Hangul script reads "precious child."

( The good table. ;)  )
I only call it "the good table" because I knew everyone there. My Mom, Dad, Gran, Betsy, Jo-chan (UD was at work and SB was picking up his girlfriend,) Timmy, my Uncle Joey and Aunt Bridgitte who is from Ireland but has since lost her accent.

( Gran with three of her kids. )
She's actually got two more. We don't talk about them, though. ^_~

( Gran with her grandchildren. )
She's actually got about five hundred more. But we are the ones she knows the best. ^_^ (There's a pic of Gran with her great grandchildren, but it didn't come out on my camera and my Mom has it. Gran has about NINE THOUSAND great grandchildren and a few great-great grandchildren too.)

( Wish I could remember what was so effing funny. )

( That's better. Parents and god(dess) parents. :D )

( Chrissie's ladybug. )
Funny, huh? Chrissie found a ladybug as we were cleaning up that night.


The only complaint I could have about the entire day is the weather. It was about 85 degrees that day, really stupid hot. Then Monday hit around 87. Hello, October? WTF? The last two days it's been rainy and chillier, into the 60's. It's a start, but I mean, come on people. Can we get highs in the 50's sometime before Halloween?

Speaking of, I really have to start working on my costume today. But before I do, I promised some folks from over at The Blog Wars some really tremendous and beautiful music from a superfly band.

Following: Some music from Taking Back Sunday.
I've had to link a few of these because they weren't playing all the way through. WTF?

SPIN!

"Open arms reject assuming hands...." True story. The lyrics have him saying at the end, "Spin, spin sugar!" I don't hear that, but big huge HURRAY to these guys for shouting out one of the coolest techno-rave dance songs ever; it's by the Sneaker Pimps. I love that song and I have it on my iPod. It's enough for me that he's just screaming "SPIN! SPIN! SPIN!" in the background throughout the end. Oh, and quite possibly? This song has the best tag ending I've ever heard. Tell me I'm wrong. DAYAM, boy.

Here's a ballady one, New American Classic:

It's just pretty and sweet and sad and ballady. Good for driving long, deserted, farm-lined Long Island highways on rainy days.

Another ballady one, Divine Intervention.
I love this one, but I put it here because it's hyenarave's favorite. "Something real, make it timeless." Not "make it TONGUE-LOVE." El to the Oh to the El. Check out the random dog barking at 1:44.

Cute Without The E:

I know everyone knows this song, but still. Gotta be one of my favorite opening lines ever. "Your lipstick, his collar, don't bother, angel; I know exactly what goes on." This band has a way with words. Favorite part? "You're such a sucker for a sweet talker," (but I love John Nolan in the background with his disgusted, "You're such a sucker!")

I saved the best two for last.
The Ballad of Sal Villanueva:

"You've got your high as a kite tricks in the bag..." This one is one of my favorites by them, and as far as I know it's an unreleased, or a B side or something. It's complicated and beautiful and angry and sad, self-deprecating and snarky all mixed in. "Hope that when he leave you still smell him on your sheets, cause I can, I can..." and "You'd say 'we're only friends', yeah, real good friends, I bet, I bet" are some of the most brutal How could you! lyrics ever. Okay, so anyone who knows anything about music, clue me in, because I don't know how to put this into musical words. Check out this one chord, or note, or sound they keep repeating during each part that goes "you're down for selling me out while I play dumb..." It comes right during the words, "while I'm..." (2:29-21, 2:42-44, and especially 3:03-3.) I know, how random could I get, right? But that one chord reminds me of every 1950's heartbreak song I've ever heard. Why? BTW, yes, I get obsessed with sounds.

My favorite ever, My Blue Heaven.
I won't lie, this song still makes me cry nearly everytime. I pretty much have to listen to it by myself. From around 2:35-ish till pretty much the end, really. The arrangement, the strings, the drums, the lyrics, everything. I absolutely can't put my finger on why, but when Adam Lazzara sings "you're safe, child, you are safe," I utterly believe it. My favorite part is "more than anything you wanted to be right" and I don't know exactly why.

Enjoy!

Well! The baby shower is tomorrow, and then we'll see how all of our hard work has come together. I hope that it's everything Chris and Tim wanted for their baby shower and that nothing goes wrong. I feel responsible.

Today was a fairly usual Friday at work, meaning that it was controlled chaos. After work I went to the ferry to pick up SB who is home from college for the weekend and for the party (he is godfather. And keep in mind when I'm saying "godmother" and "godfather" I--we, the whole family--mean it in the most a-religious, non-traditional way. Like, "godmother" without the "god" part. Except not really a mother. I wish they'd invent a different word!) Anyway, SB missed the first ferry so I waited there for an hour and a half but it was nice, the sun was setting and I like watching the ferries go by. I hope that SB makes a habit of this because if he does and I can pick him up from the ferry everytime he comes out for the weekend, then I'll get at least an hour with my boy every few weeks. We talked about all kinds of things on our way back, the way we used to when he was a kid and I knew everything, only now he knows everything, too. ^_~ He's so bright it creeps me out a little.

Well, time for a little Friday pic-spam.

Last Monday I went to The Place Where We Love Flowers (came home with an orchid and two carnivorous plants.) I saw this wack looking plant hanging in the back room and inquired after it, to be told that it wasn't for sale; it was the owner's "baby." ( This was that wack, carnivorous plant. )

( Cloud Strife co-pilots Ronin the Elantra. )

( We had a little time, as usual, in the back. L-R Casse, me, Geoff. )

( This is the mad thing the sky was doing while I was waiting for the ferry. )

( Also there was a nice rainbow that no one else seemed to notice aside from me and this one old guy. )

That's it for now! Happy weekend, my dears.