Holiday Updates, and general updates too

So it is after Christmas and before New Years. I am kind of stuck between holidays and semesters and rather frustrated with the lack of car with decent ability to go places. It putputs around town but cannot go further than 3ominutes any direction at any time. It is actually suggested not to drive it at all, but groceries must be bought!

I have acquired a few nice things in the past few days, from paintings to small appliances (including a kickass Belgian waffle iron, the kind that you rotate to cook the waffles! Very fancy.) My cats have gone bonkers since we were gone, and have taken to cuddling obsessively when not tearing through the house full of excitement of their new toys, us being back, and the boxes/new things that came with us. This includes when we sleep and I was woken up many times to accidentally partially rolling on one and being surrounded by purrs. I guess that means they love us, that or get really sad when there is noone to give them food and petting.

Princess keeps grooming the "cat's tail" toys, fuzzy strips on plastic handles. When she grabs one she nips it then grooms its fuzziness, which is kind of comical considering she is spaztastic right before catching it. (Oddly, putputs is considered spelled wrong, but spaztastic is not. Weird spellcheck.)

We just got a coathanger/wall-mounted-hook-thingy for our apartment to reduce clutter on the floor/near the door when people come over. And for ease at finding coats when having to run out the door. I was given many gloves! But sadly lost my favourite scarf. Sadness!! It was very pretty and nice. Oh well. I have another scarf for this very reason. I hope I do not loose that one too! *knock on wood*

I am working on the wedding stuff. So far the dress is bought, place selected, and the photographer paid for. Bridesmaids dresses will be chosen soon, and we will work on invitations as well. This is so crazy, but it feels kind of faraway, like it is not really gonna happen or it is just a dream. I hope ferverently that it is not! I am so excited for it!

I have gotten little done for my thesis, which is bad, so I should go do Thesis stuff....

Oh! But Josh got me Spore and I am so addicted!

Sorry, gotta run! *space-case*
Love, Nikki

Wedding Updates

[X] Find the guy, get in a relationship with him
[X] Get engaged (ask him if he takes too long)
[X] Pick a date
[X] Pick a place
[X] Pick bridesmaids/maid of honor (opted out of maid of honor)
[X] Pick groomsmen/best man (opted out of best man)
[X] Pick Flower child(ren)
[ ] Pick ring bearer(s)
[/] Pick theme and colours
[/] Decide on Guest List
[/] Save-the-dates Being made, send out Jan 15th.
[ ] Pick decour
[ ] Send Invites and RSVPs
[/] Pick food, cake, etc.
[ ] Dress PICK ON SATURDAY!
[ ] Everyone else in the wedding party's clothes Ideas on Facebook
[X] Get $ and plan for honeymoon
[ ] Plan the ceremony (writing our own)
[ ] Get married
[ ] Have a reception
[ ] go on honeymoon
[ ] Make sure everyone realizes a marriage is a gift from Him between two souls and a paper doesn't mean anything, but now we have one anyway. A wedding does not equate to a marriage.
[ ] Come back
[ ] Resume life

Almost halfway through a though-filling week

The current week seems to be my "Nikki, get in line" week. I was asked for a moment by a classmate about five minutes ago (from typing this sentence) and he said that he likes that I ask questions for conversation and fill long periods of silence by making people thing, there are times that my tone makes people uncomfortable (though I strive for it not to) and that my body language doesn't always match up with my thought process/is taken wrong. I asked a guest speaker about a sentence in his mission statement about to do business they "care enough about the person" to enter business with them. I wasn't questioning the man's intentions, I was trying to ask what that meant, more clearly. The classmate said that after I asked the question I seemed disinterested in the answer and, although what I was actually doing was typing it down and making sure I was taking it down properly, to him it seemed I had not cared about the answer and was just dinking around after asking. He said I don't discomfort him all the time, and that it is few and far between, but "as we are representatives of our majors, ourselves and our cohorts" we should all be aware of tonality and body language during guest presentations. Oddly enough, the other guest presentation he brought up the presenter told me she was honestly glad for my questions and hadn't thought of those things before. I know I don't intend to sound agressive and rude, and I am actually thoughtful and just asking clarification (or in class discussions challenging an idea because the whole point of the class is to do so) but somehow I am magically able to come off completely wrong.

I do tell people to please tell me if I offend them or make them uncomfortable so maybe we can clear the air and clear up misunderstandings. I don't get offended if people tell me that I didn't convey myself properly an, though it hurts to realize that I f***ed up yet again, I am thankful that people do tell me so I can fix the problem. I think another problem is that while I am thinking, my tone doesn't regulate properly, so as I had thought out the question and figured on less offensive wording, the tone as I was working on making sure my word choice was appropriate ended up sounding wrong. *sigh* I do think a lot about what I ask in class and at guest lectures before I ask the question. I try to make sure the wording is unoffensive and conveys my desire to understand instead of 'picking on' or 'being rude to' the guest speaker or my classmates. Seems I need to go back to Tone and Body Language 101, because there have been a number of misunderstandings lately. Or I need to take a break from stress, school, and life and fix the imbalances in my brain and the disconnects between brain and mouth, and now apparently the rest of my body.

I have also always had a strong personality, which has been accentuated by this environment despite my desire for it not to and my many attempts to keep my strong personality in check. A lot of people find a strong personality offputting and abrasive. And I know a lot of people are sensitive to tone and body language. I am just working on it. I am not a finished project in the least and need to work on polishing my tone and body language so that I am not misunderstood and not seen as offensive/abrasive/abrupt/edgy.

So this week is my "tell Nikki what she is doing wrong" week, so please let me know so I can put it on the list of things to be working on.
~N

In which Nikki was incredibly careless

So, apparently what was helpful back home is considered rude, painful, and mean outside of home. I won't go into the details except to say that I did not say what I meant properly, it came out terribly compared to what I intended to say, I used completely the wrong words so it didn't translate from my brain to my mouth, and I wasn't trying to be careless but somehow was and really hurt someone I love. We managed to at least talk about it and get each other's stories, but I just can't help but think that I was just trying to help... You know how that stupidness goes. Definitely entirely my fault. I did apologize and really, really didn't meant to hurt this person, and was incredibly sorry about it. This person said that in the past few years I have become more "abrupt, and edgey" than I used to be. I think it may have to do with the WU environment in general, where they teach you to have strong opinions and be committed to how you feel. I didn't know there was a drastic change in my personality. This definitely gives me food for thought. I know that I have trouble adjusting between what I am accustomed to and different situations, and am working on remedying that. I keep having to work very hard to remedy that. I know I am sometimes inappropriate at the wrong times, I know that I can be (though I try not to) careless or thoughtless and hurt people without meaning to, I know that I am opinionated and feel strongly about my convictions, I know that sometimes I use a tone that I don't mean to, I know that I am impatient, I know that I am absentminded sometimes. I work against these but sometimes fail, like I did this weekend without trying to. Apparently being helpful is something really hard to do, because sometimes I feel like I am disliked for doing nothing (often I don't know what to do) and I am disliked for trying to help (apparently I have some ability to do this wrong) and what was useful in one place is considered unhelpful and unwanted in another. I am trying to reconcile the different situations, and work on being able to choose the right thing to do in the right situation. Seems to be the story of my life... I think I am on the right path to be told that I have strayed yet again and landed in a patch of poison oak (or something along those analogy-lines). I hope I get the hang of this soon, I may be a young adult, but I am still an adult and am very responsible for my actions and need to figure this out asap. My mouth-brain disconnect may be the death of me someday.

Powwow was fun! I sold one small basket for $5, Josh got a good sale with his silver-leaf necklace! I am glad that we made at least some money, but am kind of sad that there weren't so many people buying. They seem to think my prices are too high, but I don't know if they realize how much work goes into these baskets, y'know? Or they do and I am just marking them too high. Maybe that seems a bit egotistical, marking your work higher than it should be... I also got a scary admirer. He and his... lady friend?... came to the booth and were asking questions. I answered them as best I could. The woman said that she could feel my spirit in my work, which I understand because I notice someone's - I guess spirit, though English doesn't have an appropriate word for it yet - in other people's work. Especially if they have spent a lot of time on it. She seemed to think everything I said was spiritual. He said thank you, have a good day, and if I ever get divorced he has a friend that would love to meet me. That was kind of slimy but I just smiled and looked at the next customer after saying "have a good day." I would have been okay if he hadn't come back. But he did, and it was very uncomfortable. He said "good evening" again, an had turned to the woman he was with when I was talking to someone about how I couldn't sling my purse across my chest because I was not as 'petite' as she was in that region. We were standing near each other and I said it in a rather low voice. She said "I can see how that would be a problem" and he echoed "Yes, I see how that could be a problem." Okay, creepy much? I shuddered slightly. Afterwards, I was lifting tables and he said "I like the color of your shirt" and I said "Yes, thank you. My husband likes it too" and continued to lift tables and move them. He then said "I just can't take my eyes off it." Uhm. I didn't respond to that because I was very, very - what is the word? - creeped out and wanted Mr. Slimy to go away. Josh's mom just kept laughing at me (she was helping too) and I was very flustered and embarrassed. They left the gym and I was glad they were gone. Got stuff loaded in the vehicles, and we got in and left. Mr. Slimy and his companion were sitting at the busstop and I was hoping that they didn't see me. Josh's mom (who gave me a ride) offered to stop and pick them up and give them a ride, I suggested "no" and continued to be creeped out and flustered. Josh's family continued to tease me afterwards and I think I will continue to be teased. I didn't treat him any different. I smiled, politely answered questions and tried to be friendly as you are supposed to when vending or working in the service industry. I have noticed more and more that people become enamored with that kind of behavior quickly nowadays, and think perhaps it is because of machinery and whatnot alienating people and highlighting terrible things in the news and our everyday lives promoting singularity and unfriendliness. Or, rather, the lack of connection between people because of machines, interfaces and, of course what I am hypocritically on right now, the internet. Where you don't have to talk face to face or even in words. Perhaps we will lose verbal langauge. Or, as a friend's biology(?) professor suggested, evolve in to giant butts with eyeballs because most of what we do is sit and stare at computers as they get more and more integrated into our lives and at televisions and movie screens. At least with books you have to actually get up for another. People lose attention spans for books and in general because the TV angle switches about every 8 seconds to keep people interested unless it is a soap opera in which they use three camera angles the entire show. (Okay, acutally not. I am joking here because their shots last longer than 8 seconds per angle/shot.) Hence no attention spans. And alongside that, there is little person to person interaction and someone who is actually friendly in person may spark the wrong impression simply by being friendly. And then I get creepy stalkers who comment inappropriately that he cannot take his eyes off my shirt and indirectly commented on the size of my breasts. Oh, what a world.

I am supposed to be doing my thesis work. My final proposal is due tomorrow and I was told I had to do a lot of work to get it up to snuff. Funfun. :( ... I have been ignoring it for the past hour and a half while I actually do work at work and type this out, edit it, and try not to be offensive, rough, abrasive or abrupt. I do not aspire to be any of those things, actually I try to avoid being those things. I guess the Liberal Arts community here at WU tends to fashion people that way and I will have to work against that fashioning. In the end, I will graduate and then have to re-learn how to live because I will no longer be in the shelter of college and hiding from responsibilites and societally acceptable social interaction but will be having to work in the 'real world' where interactions must be measured, thought about a lot, and the road treaded upon lightly to keep in line.

Makes me wonder if you really read my blog for content, or if you just read it because you are bored. I do not try to offend anyone and if I have in my blogs or my actions I apologize. I am far from perfect but trying to do better every day, despite my probably rather frequent messups. I am human, and a young human. I admit to my fault fully. I need to work on it. And right now I also need to work on my thesis proposal. Darn.

~N

Updates, process, progress.

So, the thing I was worried about was that Josh would leave. Because he has been depressed lately, I told him that I loved him, always would, but if he went home today and wants to break it off I would understand and I wouldn't be angry. I apologized that I couldn't keep him happy. I said if he comes to get me after work we will talk and try to go from there, but if he didn't come, I would know that he wanted to break it off.

Needless to say, he came and got me, saying that loving me was greater than anything that happens. And was greater than his sadness. We are working on it, and had a long conversation and crying and trying to figure it out. We are both imperfect, and it hurt to think of him leaving (especially when we could work it out over time), but if it was for the better for him I would let him go. But I am happy he stayed. It may be a rough road, but we will transverse it together.

I got back my second review for Ceramics, still pulling a "B" in the class. I still have a "B" in my Rites of Passage in Chinese Culture class, "B" in Environmental Ethics, a "B" in Archaeology, and a "B" in my Senior Seminar class. Which is good enough for me, though an "A" would be nice. In Ceramics I am kind of lazy, since it is so easy, so I don't try all too hard. Right now we are working on "Dichotomous cubes," which sounds easy. The Final has been issued, which is an interesting thing, I need to play with ideas for that one.

Tonight Josh, two TIUA students, Alexis, Annie and myself are going to have a pumpkin-carving dinner tonight. The TIUA students are making us a dinner, which is nice of them. They like to cook Japanese food when they come over. I think they really miss it. They were SOOO excited that Josh and I have salmon, because they missed eating fish, since they could not have much since coming to the US. We will also vacuum twice so Annie doesn't have a huge allergy attack because of our cats. She loves them but is allergic. In preparation Josh and I spent HOURS cleaning, vacuuming, sweeping, changing linens in the living room and whatnot. Those cats got dander and fur everywhere. She just cannot go in the bedroom, which is now trashed and is still full of cat dander. Which sucks. There will be cider (hot and not), food, pumpkin carving and pumkin seed cooking/eating. It will be fun! :)

I am going to be selling things at a powwow in about a week, and I am nervous because I will have my own booth. I am not used to that. I have a business name for it, am working on making Price Tags and Business Cards. *NERVOUS*

LOVE YA!
~N

Well, It will be a long day.

On the bright side:
I have a 89% in Environmental Ethics (almost an A), a B in Archaeology, a B in Rites of Passage, a B in my Sr. Sem class (to my knowledge), and a B in Ceramics.

On the not-so-bright side:
There have been a couple of bumps in the road and I am pretty sure that, despite planning wedding stuff, Josh is unhappy. I can't seem to cheer him up despite doing things that usually make him happy. And I was sick last weekend with sniffles and cough, headache. No body aches, no GI, no fever, so I don't think it was H1N1. I took a half dose of nyquil before bed two nights ago and slept clear through halfway through next day. I was still hacking yesterday, but almost everything is gone. I have also done something either incredibly good or incredibly stupid in regards to Josh, and it could end up being a huge mistake, the biggest in my life. Or it will be something that makes me happy and us happy. Everyone is fretting about it even though I won't talk about it. I keep worrying, which is making my headache not go away and makes me feel shaky, stomach icky, and in general not well. I think it is just the worry, though, no chills or fever. I will know the outcome later tonight.

On another bright side:
I am going to be carving pumpkins and having a salmon dinner with two of my TIUA friends. This is their first halloween, so it will be fun! We will even roast the seeds. They are really excited for the fish (they apparently miss fish) and they are excited to be a part of American ritual for Halloween. Haven't heard about a haunted house, but I will be trick-or-treating with S and E, and will go on a field trip before that. More fun! :)

I am sitting in a class where I am trying not to snore I am so bored. I have logged off of facebook because I am getting pestered about my status of "may have made the biggest mistake in her life." The 'her' being myself. So I changed it to 'loves you all. But doesn't want to talk about it." or something like that. It starts with loving everyone and has something about not wanting to talk about it. And getting caffinated. YAY CAFFINE!

Updates later.
~N

And life goes on

Sill dying of thesis. Though that is in the figurative sense instead of the literal one.

On that note, about the literal sense, a good friend of mine passed away. Well, committed suicide is really the truth of it. His family came over from Japan, and they let us do a US-Style memorial where people did pretty much what they wanted to memorialize him. I did smudging because I remember that he liked it. Two friends spoke, which was nice. We were all good friends. I almost faltered... I hadn't the chance to do a viewing (because of a participant's meeting that took forever to start) so when I walked by when smudging I saw his face, his favorite hat, and I almost stopped and cried. But that wouldn't work too well, would it? I was also at the beginning of the ceremony.

Alexis is sick with the flu. Which sucks, we are pretty sure it is the dreaded virus of doom the media is so hyped the f*ck up about. She now has soup and tea and juice and vitamin water and a bunch of meds. And a thermometer. We almost got her this funky spongebob one, but decided to not buy it and just tell her about it lest she throw something at us. Like snotty tissues.

Oh well, I am already exposed anyway. Mamma says sleep, fluids, and vitamin C. Then hopefully it won't manifest. It is already on campus and a number of students already have it. Yay.

In brighter news, my cats decidedly love Josh and I. We locked them out of the bedroom last night because they kept running around. So they pawed at the door and preeowed and mewed and whined this morning when they knew we were awake. When we opened the door we were bombarded by cuddles and nuzzles and "PET ME!" type motions. They are also sleeping right next to/on top of Josh and I. Which is hard when they lay on your chest right by your face and you sniff in hairs and wake up. Or lick your nose to death.

I am so far passing my classes. That is good! I am trying not to be entirely tooo stressed. I so far have a "B" in Archaeology, a "B" in my senior sem (to my knowledge), a "B" in Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies, a "B+/A-" in Ceramics, and... well.. I don't know for Ethics. But hopefully it is in the "B" range or above. Which is good, because that means that my constant head-bashing is paying off. Sleep doesn't really exist, I think. Though I strain to achieve a good amount of this mythical stuff.

I just opened the stubborn soda bottle on my own. Yay! I was about to give up. The point where it is almost open is usually when I give up, I think, because I hand it of to Josh or someone else and they open it really easy. Saying someone "loosened it up" is actually usually true, if they tried. Provided they weren't turning the cap the wrong way!

My sister is now married. She jumped ahead of me despite my date being already set. I am admittedly very annoyed and rather miffed at her for this. I also think it is a bad idea because my sister has known this guy for a cumulative of 5 months, lived with him for one month, and broke up with her ex only six months or less ago. I think it is very rushed and that she is not looking before she leaps. I am in the ceremony for her family ceremony (though the marriage is legal now). I am a bridesmaid and am slightly afraid of the dress, which will definitely not flatter my figure.

My own wedding plans have not really progressed. We are looking at possible places the weekend after this weekend, then deciding from there, and deciding on the guest list and who is coming to the Wedding and Reception, and who is just coming to the Reception.

We are thinking a Salmon Bake! If we have the money... and I guess something for people who don't want salmon. ... weirdos. :P Potluck reception?

We haven't picked a theme yet, nor have we picked much of anything else. We chose the save-the-dates!

I also have a name for my Basketry and Beadwork! Picpic tewlikitpe (PITS pits taw-lick-IT-puh). It is in the Nez Perce Language (Niimiipuumt) and means "Cat in the tree." I am commissioning a logo from Annie. She does really nice artwork! :)

To see a sample of her art: http://hyper-crabby.deviantart.com
To see a sample of what I sell: http://picpic-tewlikitpe.deviantart.com (still under construction)
For a sample of my other art: http://s-nightshade.deviantart.com (currently houses all of my work, the basketry and beadwork has yet to be moved to the new account)


YAY!
~N

*sigh*

It seems like this is just a place to rant sometimes. I had a full, busy weekend. On Thursday I started thesis stuff. On Friday night I had to take S and E to the hospital. We stayed there till 1am, and they admitted E, so we helped out with that for the next 2 days.

I had to do a lot of homework and had to do thesis stuff.

I turned in my take-home test a full 13 hours late. I got my thesis proposal first draft in on time, but it was kind of crappy. I am surprised the prof. thinks it is about B/B- quality. I didn't think so. Still don't.

Josh was taken away Monday night to help build a shed. He wasn't supposed to leave till Tuesday morning, but his dad just up and changed his mind. *ANGER* He was supposed to be back last night, but came home today and the stupid shed STILL isn't done. So he wants to go back. I didn't get to spend good, quality time with him since Thursday, so I am very frustrated that he wants to just go to the meeting (spend about an hour with me or so, no quality time) and then take off again. oirgfjkowihgfdjn!*sigh* and he says that I don't understand the situation...

We were doing better for a while, communicating well and working well together. I know this is just a glitch, but there seems to be friction for the moment. I think we have different priorities. They could build the shed without him, they have the capabilities. He could be going around in Salem to pester jobs and interview instead of climbing a shed to finish a roof. Yes, he would be paid for the roof, but he is also ditching me to do the housework, work, AND do my homework. It is tiring. I know it will be better, but it sucks right now.

I found out today that a foreign exchange friend of me died yesterday. They found him at 11 dead in his apartment. This has been hard and I have been having trouble focusing on things. It was really sudden and no one expected it at all. And so I have just been questioned about a reading in class and I said "I didn't read it, someone died." Yeaaaaaah...

I am going to the Historic Deepwood Estate in Salem to see if we want to use it for the wedding. Inside the house has only 40 people allowed at once for an event. The grounds could have more people. I am hoping they can quote a LOW price, since we don't really have money saved up. *grumblegrumble*

I found out recently that S and E are moving. It makes me sad but we are gonna keep in contact. *go Nikki Facebook and Email stalking powers!* Maybe we can visit if we end up in the area they are moving to.

Thesis is killing me. I am doing thesis stuff so much that I am not hanging out with my friends much at all. This is kind of really sucking. And I am sleepy and tired all the time. I am sleepy now and I still have 5-10 min of class. Zzzzzz.

OH. On the car. It is broken. Sell it for scraps. Need a new car, but I will NOT insure the car if I cannot drive it. (AKA stick shift) I will not budge on this. We can use the car until it dies, can't really break it much more. Don't drive it far because towing bills. Yay... *SARCASM*

EDIT: He is getting the F*CKING Trooper that I DON'T want because I CANNOT drive stick. I refuse to insure the thing, since I cannot drive it comfortably (or at all at the moment). He will need to get a JOB and insure it on HIS OWN. He is getting it because he wants to, and refuses to listen to the fact that I don't want the damn thing AT ALL. *sigh* ((Sorry about all the capslock, I am just REALLY frustrated by this!)) Oh, and it is also broken. Needs a new carberator. Josh is gonna get a scrap carberator off his uncle in Springs. Which may or may not work at all. *numerous explicatives*

Okay, enough ranting. I gotta go!
Much love!
~N

Well, that sucked.

So,
Last week was the second week of school. I was sick on Tuesday, sick on Wednesday (but went to m evening class and meeting anyway), and through Friday night with a fever. Nothing else, just a fever and clamminess. They tested for H1N1, nothing. They tested for pregnancy, nothing. They checked my nodes and glands, perfectly fine. They decided on "unidentified virus" and told me to wait it out.

On Wednesday night I found out that Josh and his family and I were supposed to go to Celilo Falls (many hours away) and do the things for a funeral. Digging the grave started at midnight, then there was dancing and prayers, then a service starting at dawn, then a meal starting at about noon. They left before the giveaway started. I was banned due to fever and clamminess and had to stay home. Which sucked.

So I missed a lot last week, only the second week of school, and that is a BAD start to the term. (By the way, I totally only got a 60% on my chronology quiz.... I am terrible with dates!)

I managed to get my Short Proposal done in time over the weekend for Tuesday. That means that step 1 of my thesis is complete, but there is muchly more still to do. I have FINALLY caught up with my homework, and am not able to work ahead a little so that I don't fall so far behind.

Oh, and my honey has been gone since Tuesday night and is not returning till Sunday Night or Monday Morning. I have done pretty well by myself so far, but it is rather lonely. I do have the two cats to keep me company, though!

And I have noticed that when I am bored and lonely, I tend to get a lot of cleaning done... but not much homework. Which is a good thing (the cleaning, not the homework) because my folks are bringing my stuff (which I had been keeping in their nice large garage in the house they are moving out of) and I need a clean house a) to impress them and b) so there is room in my apartment for the crap they are bringing.

Maybe I should do a yard sale.

Monday is gonna be fun with a capital "F-U." I have work from 10:30 to 12:30, which isn't bad, I have a finaid meeting at 1pm to tell them that no, I cannot pay because I have NO money and my parents don't have money either, and pick a new lender because the lender I had has disappeared. My class at 2 is canceled (though I will likely go in anyway because I have projects to work on). But then I have work from 4:30 to 6:30, a "guest Lecture" I have to attend from 6:30 to 8:30, a meeting from 8:30 to 9:30, and homework to do after that. Oh, I have been excused from the lecture a bit early to find food, since I do need to eat and this 'guest lecture' doesn't work well with my schedule. Good thing the Prof. understands.

Other than all that whiny-ness, which I apologize for, life is going pretty okay. Classes are mostly interesting, and I have read a lot of interesting things. Work is generally boring, since there is no work to do at two of my jobs (beginning of the year chaos slowing my job down, but I come in anyway because I need the money and they are paying me whether they like it or not) and it is pretty easy stuff at the third. For all that ask, yes I have three jobs. Technically four, but the fourth doesn't do anything so I don't get paid for it and therefore I discount it.

Unfortunately there will be no parties at my place, since Annie has recently started breaking out in hives when around cats for too long. But I get to chill out with Annie and Alexis at their apartment so it works. I try to bring food and other niceities when Josh and I are invited over. It has become common practice that if I am invited, so is Josh, since we are a unit. Even so, I tend to check and make sure in case they don't want him there (like panty shopping or buying him birthday presents or something). I also try not to invite myself over, just wait till they invite me over.

Annie now works at my webdev job too! It is nice, because then things will get done when I am not there, since I had to drop from 20 hours a week to 5 hours a week. I don't think she will need much training, though, since she is smart and works really hard. And is good at figuring out things. I just need to show her the basic buttons and then we can chill and goof off together (our schedules overlap).

I realized that I tend to blog infrequently, but write really long entries that no one really reads. That is okay, though, since it is for me to ramble and rant and get things out of my brain and into a different space. Yay thought dumping.

I think I will stop thought-dumping for now, since you are probably bored (if you read all that) and really are just thinking "Nikki, stop whining." I know. Remember I love you and will listen to you rant, too.

~N

Begin week two

So,
School has started, which means classes and homework and two of my three jobs have started. I will be only working 19 hours, but am taking 4.5 classes so it averages to a full time job... minus about half the pay and plus homework.

For the brief synopsis, my week typically will look like this.
Monday: Work (MMWR) 10:30 to noon-thirty. 2-4pm Ceramics, 4:30-6:30 Work (webdev).
Tuesday: 9:40-11:10 Politics of Environmental Ethics, 12:50-2:20 Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies, 2:30-4 Senior Sem (first half), 4:30-6:30 Work (Art Bldg).
Wednesday: 10:30-12:30 Work (MMWR), 2-4pm Ceramics, 6:30-9:30 Archaeology, and every other Wed. there is a meeting at 5:30 for NAEA.
Thursday: 9:40-11:10 Politics of Environmental Ethics, 12:50-2:20 Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies, 2:30-4:30 Work (MMWR), 4:30-6:30 work (art bldg).
Friday: 10:30-12:30 Work (MMWR), 1-3pm Work (Art bldg), 3:30-6:30 work (Webdev).

So I am rather busy, Lunch is in the first break of the day, and then there is homework in between things.

Last weekend I went camping in the Cascades with Alexis, Annie, Alex, and Josh. It was a lot of fun despite being rained on. And the tent leaking due to things being shoved against the sides on accident.

Alexis took a lot of amazing pictures. We took a hike to this ridge overlooking a gorgeous lake. Funny thing, the coloring of the lake, according to a prominent artist, should not look like that and no lake naturally exists in those colors. Well, we found it.

We didn't get to pick berries, which made me sad. Annie, Alex and Josh went fishing. Josh caught a fish right off the bat then they spent three hours catching nothing in the pouring rain. Alexis and I played a card game with Josh's family and relaxed in the hut by the fire. It was a lot of fun. We heard stories, as well.

We stopped at a family friend's house on the way back and were gifted with bags and bags of fresh veggies picked from the garden. We got to pick them ourselves, so I now have a gobton of tomatoes and zuccini, as well as some carrots and squash and green beans. They also fed us a delicious lunch of burgers with veggies from the garden.

We made it back safe. And then went out with friends for a promised dinner and hang-out before Labor Day. Since we didn't have class Labor Day we just had fun, some people had a drink or two, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

I realized I missed my friends and hanging out more than I thought, and that I really craved group social interaction. I also realized that I hate classes and homework. Okay, I like the information that comes with them, but homework tends to get tedious and classes on occassion boring and time-consuming.

Speaking of class, today I made enemies in the Poli class (hereafter referred to as "environmental ethics"), and it is time for me to dash off and learn about rites and religion.

Much love,
~N

P.S. Today is my day for making enemies. I promptly made on in my Rites of Passage in Chinese Societies class. (Not to be confused with Rites of Passage in Japan and the US.)

Almost the end

It is almost the end of summer, and I have to say I am kind of excited and kind of sad to see it go. Excited because that means that my friends will be coming back to Salem, and we can go on the camping trip and have fun together! Sad because I will be kissing working full time for 9+ an hour goodbye and I will have to do things like homework and tests. Which will suck because I am taking 4.5 credits, plus doing 14 hours of work a week. Ugh! But next term will be sooo much easier!

In other news, there is not much going on at home. A few hiccups that are normal for first moving in together. Josh is still hunting for the elusive job, but is saving up money he gets from selling stuff just in case it keeps eluding him.

We decided on our wedding date, which is next July! We will be tying the knot after 6.5 years of being together (by that time). It will be outdoors and likely not-traditional. There will be minimal marshmallowness, yo! Maybe a not-white dress altogether!

There is muchly to do as I noted on my facebook account. MUCHLY.

I bought a book for $40+ at the WU bookstore, but get to return it because I found a copy (though a prior addition that was totally approved) for $1 on ebay, so plus S&H it came to about $5. I bought another that I hadn't even priced at the bookstore, practically new!, for a total of $8. So that brings the amount I have spent on books waay down! *big smile*

I have three bosses. One in Webdev, one in the art bldg, and one in WITS. The one in Webdev wants to know how much he has to bribe the one in WITS to keep me (In other words, for WITS not to keep me on next term). I laughed because he was asking who to bribe. I don't rightly know that yet myself, even! But it was nice to feel wanted, at least for the fact that I do the work to avoid boredom.

It is 4:10 pm and I have three hours and five minutes to burn. Nothing to do at this job (art bldg) right now so I am booored. Sleep, maybe?

~N

Why oh why?

So, people are being dumb, it was waaay too hot for the past three days (100+ degrees), and I am seriously wanting interaction with people I know. I mean, it is fun to hang out with my honey and our neighbors, but I miss my friends.

It makes me sad that this will be the last school year, because after that the group is splitting directions and going where they wanna go. I know I am going to P-town, and Alexis is likely going to Japan, but no idea where Annie is going. *sigh* This being the last year, we should really hit up the fun!

In other news, I am just bored at work a lot, since all there is to do is scanning the slides and praying the AC doesn't leak on them. So, during the 25 minutes it takes to scan the slides, I am goofing off online. Prolly not the best idea in the universe because it looks like I am not working but I have not too much to do anyway.

I am really excited for getting off today. Today I go shopping with Atsushi after work and we are gonna buy stuff for Sukiyaki! He is searching a good recipe for the sauce and bringing it with him. Saturday is the sukiyaki dinner, and I am so totally stoked! I have been wanting Sukiyaki for ages. I also randomly crave Japanese food, since I don't get much when I cook for myself. So I wanted miso at midnight-thirty, and we went to safeway at that time to get the green onions we were missing so we could make miso. And we ate it at, like, 1am. What? I was hungry and really really wanted miso.

In other news, the house exploded again. So I gotta clean that up by Saturday. Josh is selling his airsoft stuff. Well, only some of it. And I have been orchestrating plans for the camping trip. We still gotta talk to Josh's mom and dad about maybe getting picked up. The family friends of Josh's are suggesting we leave the car at their house and get picked up from there. That will cut 45 minutes off of the drive to meet up with us. But we are still working on that plan. If interested parties could bring a sleeping bag, that would help. We have at least one tent, maybe a second if Alex brings his. Yay bringing food, too. And maybe a cake!

Nothing else interesting is going on. Update another day.

~N

PS. JUST got my hours confirmed for job#2!! Now I will be working 4 10-hour days M-Th from 9am to 7:30 (half hour for lunch break). But that means my Fridays until school starts will be freeee! And I will have 40hr/wk, which means money!! ^~^

Oregon Coast and other news

So, we went to the coast. It was a Bruno family thing. It made me sad because it made me think of my family. I usually go with my family, and that made me very sad not to. Especially when going wave-jumping and watching Josh's cousin flying a kite (which, by the way, reminds me that we still cannot get the one dad bought when we last went to the beach to do cool tricks).

Anywho, we slept in a tent, and Josh caught some sea bass when he went nightfishing, and came back at 3am freezing cooooold. So the kiss was annoyingly freezing. Meep! I have never eaten sea bass, which I have never eaten. So this will be interesting trying it. We were given smoked salmon while at the coast, as well as some corn on the cob, which I like and Josh does not. Sadness. I think it is sushi tonight.

We went to the beach on Sunday and I actually burned. Weeeird. At least people are saying they like my new swimsuit. Josh really does like it, I found out. That is enough for me. I made a good friend with my neighbor, who is hilarious. Sad that there is all sorts of shit goin on, and he has gotten stuck in the middle of it. Makes me wonder what nasty lies are going around about me.

As you can tell, my brain is all over the place. I am smeepy and didn't sleep well. I have found that if I drink alcohol near nighttime I cannot sleep. I tried my first sip of wiskey last night. Which Josh and my neighbors though was hilarious to watch. It was fine until I actually tasted it. Eeeeeewwwwww! I hereby hate wiskey.

OH! I found out that Alex and Annie have confirmed they are going on the camping trip the first weekend of school. I am waiting to hear from Alexis for absolute confirmation or refusal for the trip.

The current situation is the four (hopefully five, so hereafter I am planning on five until told otherwise) of us going up ASAP on Friday the 5th, and then coming back on Sunday the 7th. The exact details of the "going" are a bit up in the air. Not sure if Josh is going to drive it the first time (oh god save me!), if we are gonna be met at Gates, if we are hiking in (which sound unfun) or if we are being picked up at WU.

The current sleeping situation is Josh, Alexis, Annie, Alex and me in Josh's tent. We have one, maybe two sleeping bags. We miiight be able to borrow some from the Bruno house. Alex might bring a sleeping bag or two, and maaaaaybe a tent.

Everyone is going to be bringing money for food and/or gas... Sorry to be a bitch, but no exceptions. Hopefully more to food because there will be many, many people. Also, we are thinking of bringing a Birthday cake for a belated Josh birthday party.

So, the absolutely confirmed: Josh, Alex, Annie, Myself. Ken and Heidi will be up there. As will Kenny, Forrest, Pai and Kenny's wife (whose name I forget).

The Brunos should be, but that is uncertain only because there might be something Chris has to do. Alexis should be but I am gonna ask her shortly.

Must finish work and get of. Loves!
~N

Well that sucks

Well,
Yesterday was one of those sarcastically "best days ever." Josh forgot to check the laundry, we ran errands and it was locked when we got back. Then some jackass decided to steal our 2 blankets, pants, tops, panties and underwear and socks. And when I asked about it, another resident gave me a look that says "I dare you to call the cops. Who cares? No one cares at all, dumb shit." Reminded me of a predator, which made me give him one of my "fuck off, asstard" looks. And pretty much no one cares. At all at all. Kind of sucks and I am just waiting to see someone wear my clothes so that I can say "Uhm, can I see the tag on that?" and confront them. Josh plans to do that, too, since he actually puts his name/initials in his clothes from when he lived with his brothers.

Also, Josh was on the end of a sandwich car accident. He stopped, chick behind him was slow on the uptake and stopped short, the asshole behind her didn't stop at all and slammed into her (his car was totalled. Short car vs. SUV), she slammed into Josh. Front of her car was fine. Back of ours was fucked up more and now the license plate doesn't stay on and we really need to fix the damn thing. So now we are taking an unplanned trip to Portland for the weekend. Which will be oh so fun. We have been fighting for two and a half days due to stupid things and my intensely stupid PMS. Made my appt. for the 14th. So I am sleep deprived, agitated, and now sans clothing and two of the blankets I was gifted and love to death. They are the two red microfuzz ones. *cries in frustration* And I blame the laundry on Josh because he should have picked it up sooner. Like when he woke up at 8am and I was still asleep. Or when we got home from him picking me up from work. GARGH!

*sigh* *deep breath*

Oh, and found out bad stuff about the manager I am not going to put here anymore for my safety. She's been nice to me except not caring that there is theft of laundry. (Seriously? That fucking desperate?) Or fixing the stuff in the house like the garbage disposal, leaky toilet, broken kitchen light of florescent bulbs... *sigh*

Need. Sleep. Need. Happy. Need. People. To. Stop. Being. So. Fucking. Stupid.

Hope your worlds are better and you don' t have to deal with so much crap.
Much love,
~N

Wheeeeeee!

So,

I had a great 4th. I hung out with Ellie, and my neighbor S, and her silly daughter E. E calls everyone "mister" or "miss". So I am Miss Nikki and my honey is Mister Josh. She funnily told her mother that "Mister Josh is gonna be my teacher"... and threw an absolute fit when she couldn't hold his hand on the way to the event. It is cute.

I have gotten my emultion cleaner, more cans of air, and my microfiber wipes so I can clean my slides properly. So I can actually scan the hundreds of slides that I am behind on (due to lack of cleaning supplies). I am currently on the second set of ten. There are four more in this specific set... so that is forty... plus the four miscellaneous slides in this specific grouping. There are also another 200+ slides in a set waiting for me to do. So that leaves 244+ slides that I am behind on, and I can scan them up to 12 at a time. At the moment, I am scanning the sets of 10 as is and not more than the set of 10. Each scan of the 10 slides take about 20 minutes. And the full 12 takes about 25ish. I am scanning them at 300 dpi and 10.5 inches along the longest side.

yay, on the next set. So now only 234+...

Anywho, living in Salem is not too bad. Went to Northern Lights with my sister on Sunday, and with Josh on Friday before that to scout it out. Sad that Sunday everything in Salem closes early.

Oh, for those of you who don't know. I have a second part time job. I probably already said it, but hey... I am still waiting on the details.

Sleeeeepy. For some reason my sleep schedule is all out of whack. Nyaaaaaaah. Okay, nothing else interesting to add.... Much love!
~N

Bored

Sorry for no update recently. There has actually been work to do at work. There is a brief respite at the moment, where I am just scanning some images again. I should be doing metadata, but I am leaving it till later so I will continue to have something to do.

I have found that transparencies, despite being printed material, they scan like slides. So they can be blown up a lot and still look good. Yay!

I have also found that my life plans for the future do not constitute as a legitimate history for a character. At least by the way I wrote it. I need to add major detail to tie up the loose ends. Apparently the most implausible points are that a) two Native Americans would move from the res to Japan, where there is the whole xenophobia and anti-gaijin phenomena running amok and 2) that the child of said Natives would retain any of his native culture. Apparently this was on high authority from a 'friend who has studied in Japan for a while' and living in an 'immigration-heavy part of America'. Apparently this woman has never met Natives in real life and, when I explained that it would be research and personal interest, she was all "it is not plausible for them to go".... yeah... So I pulled the characters to write a more detail-oriented profile for my character that shows all the steps to the plan. *Sigh*

Apparently she doesn't know that Japanese people have an odd, extreme fondness for Native Americans, their culture, their art, and their jewelry. And that any Japanese person that meets one is instantly amourous.

I also love how I also "checked the facts" and a number of Americans have made the move and are relatively accepted. Like the professor of mine who even married a Japanese woman and went through Japanese ceremonies. And had a son that was pretty much accepted into the community. I mean, there was some teasing, but that isn't unusual when you are in a different country. Yeah....

Oh well. I pulled the character for now until I can write a more acceptable version of the same damn thing. And though I am frustrated that a woman who is a moderator for a site that features an ISLAND OF JUST MEN WITH PRECIOUS METALS FOR CURRENCY cannot find it acceptable, I will bow out for the moment.

So I am kinna bored. Yeaaaaah.... *sigh* Gotta log off and go.

Wednesday ::[MATURE CONTENT]::

It is Wednesday, which is my Thursday because in a four day workweek, Wednesday doesn't exist. Tomorrow is my Friday, which makes me happy! Because that means I can go to the post office, the bank, and run all the other errands I need to run on Friday, which is my... first Saturday? I'm not sure what to call it, but it means that I always have 3-day weekends. At least unless I get another part-time job. Yay errands.

So, I had to go back into the database at work and switch statuses of a billion images. And found out that the computer does "screen sharing" which means my boss can fiddle with my computer when we are screen sharing. He decided to do this just as I was scanning this image:

So his response was, "I didn't know you were into porn." And I responded that I was scanning it for a professor, which is the truth, and he said, "Uhuh. Suure." And I am not sure if he is kidding or not. He usually jokes a lot. And it tends to be that, even if I am not guilty I sound guilty just because I get flustered at the implication that wrongly accuses me.

Domino and Princess are running around like mad at tehir sudden freedom to romp together in the house. Princess is still whiny and still has a funny buldge in her abdomen, but they say it is okay, and that it can take months to go down. Domino seems to be fully recovered from her operation and stitch removal.

The garbage disposal is broken. Some glass got down into it without our knowledge when the cup broke, and now it doesn't work. Josh is gonna get maintenance on it today. Or if they are not here today, file a maintenance request for it to be fixed. Though, I don't have high opinions of maintenance so far, as they have permission to enter and have yet to fix the things that were broken when we arrived. It has been two months. But hopefully they won't freak out since the garbage disposal was, in fact, a complete and total accident.

I found where I can get adobe products for about half price. Well, half the listed price on the official website. It is a student discount through techhead. Too bad I still don't have the money for it, even at half price. Fuu! I really really would like it for my work. And for personal art, too. Too bad they won't let me pay in increments. *sigh* Anyone looking for a good Christmas gift for me? *bats eyes*

So I am goofing off at work again. I have about an hour and 40 minutes left of work. And I am facebook stalking my friend Solomon, who got famous for being in Twilight even though I knew him before then. As well as my other friends on facebook. I guess I am off to kill more time. I wonder if I need a hunting license to kill time...

Laterz.
~N

In which Nikki admits that she fucked everything up this weekend

So, I am a royal fuck up this weekend.

I went shopping at costco and spent waaaaay more money than I intended to. Therefore I did not have the money to go to my cousin's reception this weekend. So SHE is pissed off at me.

I was told somethingI didn't know was in the 'not to be repeated' category, so I said something to another person and caused a chain reaction worse than fuck that ended with three people pissed off at me at once and me in tears for the first half hour or more of work today. So that makes that move a maaaajor fuck-up. Should have been smarter. And before anyone asks, the topic is closed. To everyone. I am not talking about the details at all or about this anymore. This is just a "fuck, I fucked up so bad" statement and will be nothing more.

I totally almost forgot father's day. And when I did I called at an inconvenient time.

.... oh, and my cat Princess won't sit still and I am really scared that she will get a seroma because she won't stop moving long enough to keep it from happening. So we took her in to the clinic today to see if the bulge forming was, in fact, the dreaded seroma. Good news is it isn't. It is just something else causing a bulgey-ness. Just keep an eye out in case it gets bigger or in case it gets fluid-ey and squishy, because that would be a problem. I think the people at the clinic think that Josh and I are paranoid, since we keep bringing our cats in to get checked out since we don't actually know what a seroma looks or feels like except it is a bump the size of a marble or bigger and it is bad shit.

Domino gets her stitches out tomorrow, which will be fun, fun. I don't know if we are supposed to not feed her or not. I know for surgery you have to stop feeding her at 11pm the day before the surgery. And the surgery is usually the next afternoon. (Funny, Domino's stitches were black and Princess's were hot pink.)

On the bright side, things at the apartment are steadily improving. We are finding homes for everything in the apartment. We still lack a table, iron and ironing board, mixer, blender, chairs for said table, and some shelving for the bajillion books we have. Oh, and a proper dresser.

And Josh and I went on a picnic yesterday for dinner. It was slightly lame in that it was just sandwich stuff and cookies and soda pop as we sat in the middle of a path at the nearby park, but it was fun to get out of the apartment for dinner, even if it was cheap-cheap.

I am currently sitting bored at work. I have nothing to scan, no metadata to enter, and despite writing for a character and listening to a movie, I would greatly rather prefer I was doing something productive. I may update this again today if I feel like it. Since it is a blog and I know at least two people read it, I guess I should update it more frequently than I have in the past.

Okay, I lied.

I promise I won't go bald. I noticed that my hair was terribly uneven, and that with the weather in Salem I wanted to thin my thick native hair out again. It is definitely more of a boy's haircut, what with it being all short, but if I style it just right I look like a crazy escapee from a faery-story.

So.. here is a pic before it was cut. As in before the bitch of a hairdresser fucked up my hair.

And here is a picture of what it looks like now. It has been washed and dried since I cut it. Again, I held the scissors, and kind of like it uneven in this context. It is kind of foofy because I was playing with it all day and my hair has natural volume. Yeah, you people with flat hair have to try to get it to do this. I don't and I hate it sometimes. You must agree, when it is muggy as hell and refuses to rain, less is more comfortable. (Ignore the blemishes that are visible near the neck and on my shoulder. Damn muggy weather.)



Do I look like a faery-story escapee yet? Oooh! I should play dress up or something! ^^

When it is wet, it is more cracked out. Good news is that I won't be using so much shampoo... too bad Josh still uses a ton for his hair... which almost falls into his buttcrack now. Need to trim split ends anyway... but damn that is looong.

Okay, now I have twenty minutes left of work and have nothing else to write. My baby comes home tonight and will be drugged up and kind of funny to watch.

I tried Pepsi Throwback again, and forgot how much more I liked it. Oddly enough, when using actual sugar it tastes almost exactly like Coke with actual sugar. Interesting, isn't it? Well, at least there is no coke in Coke and they stopped slaughtering native plants for Pepsi.

So. I found out that the bank charges twenty nine dollars to stop a check from being processed. I asked why and she said "because we have to interrupt normal services". Bullshit. Just how the Bank actually makes money. That and ridiculous overdraft fees. They let you overdraft just to get those damn fees. And why is it 29 dollars instead of just flat 30? Weird.

So WU lost my check, never got from the mail center to Student Accounts. So I called and cancelled it and just paid online. Oh well. I just want to get it all paid off as soon as I can because next term's payments are being requested next month. Good luck of me finding the money to pay what I cannot. *sigh*

Five minutes.

Much love!
~N

Yeah

So it is week two at my job and apparently I am too fast of a worker. Then again, there is little work to do overall, since it is summer and most of the professors are gone. But still! this job was created with the idea that there would be 20 hours of work for me to do each week of the summer, and I feel like there should be more work. If there is nothing by next Wednesday I will be relegated to odd jobs here and there, which is more busywork but better than sitting around doing nothing. Like I am doing right now. (But hey, I am getting paid to update my blog!)

On the bright side, I might be able to bring my kitties to work one day, which would be fun. I love my babies! My boss is looking forward to meeting them. (The boss that is at the Art Bldg proper, who doesn't think of herself as a boss and is hilarious and fun to talk to.) And I look forward to meeting her sons sometime, since they sound like fun.

She said that one of her sons can imitate a furby. As in he has long lashes and similar eyebrows and delights in mimicking them. Kind of funny. When she said that he looked like a furby I asked "what would your son think if he heard you say that?" in a teasing tone. She looked at me seriously and said "he loves it!" ... Go figure.

In other news, Domino was fixed last Friday, and boy was she out of it. The hard part was that after the anesthesia wore off, she was back to being hyper as hell. We were trying really hard to keep her to sit still so she didn't get a seroma. (For those of you who don't know, it is a fluid-filled pouch that forms near an incision site if there is too much movement after surgery. Tiny ones are normal, but if they get too big the doctors have to take a big-ass needle and pull out all the puss-ey, bloody, fluid-rich ..well... fluid. Which is another painful medical procedure best avoided.) We tried using a kennel that we borrowed from SFOF, but she just went nuts in it and made in unsanitary in 20 minutes flat. So we cleaned it up, gave her a bath, which she hated, and thought of a new plan. We called a local pet hospital for advice, and said what we were doing at the moment (which was just temporarily keeping her in the cat carrier). They said keep doing that and she should be fine. Finally, we just left her in the carrier most of the time, letting her out every 30 min or so to let her use the litter box, eat, and drink.

It is Princess's turn to get fixed. We dropped her off this morning to get it done. We thought we could pick her up tonight but they need to wait until tomorrow to fix her, so she gets to stay there overnight. Apparently the vet who was gonna do it broke her toe... I know, I know, sounds lame... but broke her toe and could not do the surgery. I thought "so what? I break mine and I'd still go to work". But Josh brought up a good point: it could be bad to let someone operate on a kitten while thinking about the pain from a broken toe. Still.... is it gonna be that much better tomorrow? But anyway, it is gonna be her turn to be locked up, restricted, and drugged out on anesthesia. (BTW, Domino was, like, dead after she was spayed. As in floppy and we couldn't wake her up easily. So we let her sleep it off. It was actually kind of funny in a bad way. But that only lasted 5 hours or less.)

I noticed there are a lot of side comments in parentheses in this blog. I apologize, but that is how my thoughts are organizing themselves after four and a half hours of staring at a computer screen, inhaling the sharpie I use every half minute to label things in one room... at least it is air conditioned!

It constantly looks like I am not doing anything at work. Which makes it hard right now when I actually am not doing anything. But I keep having people come in the ONE minute I stop working to take a breather.

For example: finished scanning a book and uploading the images, have my movie running in the background, juuust minimized the window and glanced at the video screen as I turned to get another book... and someone walks in, which looks like I have just been goofing off and waching my videos. Sucks.

Another Example: today Alexis called me while on her break and I was at work. We chatted and I did metadata as I was talking. I had just finished metadata for one set of slides and affixing their labels for the database, and was laughing at something Alexis said. I turn because I hear something and notice someone walking in. And I am on the phone. With no metadata on the screen. So it looks like, once again, I am doing nothing.

So this is a long, rambly post with nothing, really, to do with anything. Josh and I are still getting used to living together. It is definitely different when we actually live together. Which kind of doesn't make sense. There is living together over the summer with your parents, and then there is living together by your own money and your own means, and getting used to each other as best you can. We argue, okay, disagree about stupid things, really. Like where the dishes go. Or where the towels go. Or whose stuff goes on the desk because we both have stuff and we both want to put it in places that is easily accessible and look nice. He wants his canvases in the living room, but they are just clutter and taking up space. He wants a couch and I don't. I want to keep the dishes where I put them, but he tries to put them where it makes sense for him and his old household. I want to use the mini fridge for drinks and he doesn't want to because he wants to keep our energy consumption down. But plays videogames. So it really is all stupid shit that we shouldn't be arguing about. But it comes with the territory of moving in together for the first time (officially) and him leaving his family back in Portland and not living close to him for the first time in his life. At least he isn't always telling me to do things a certain way because that is how his mother does it like some men I have heard of.

Well, enough rambling. My shift is over in 1 minute and I need to log out and shut down. If you actually read all of that, you are my lovely and I am honored you devoted all your time to reading this shit. Much love to you.

~N

Well Fuck

So, my job has no work for me to do. So I am sitting around bored being paid to sit there. As if I needed that.... I may also be getting a second part-time soon. Need that money!

In other news, my hair is shorter than in the last blog. I found uneven parts that bugged me so I cut them off. My car is busted because Josh pulled another "brilliant" and broke the gas line, which means I am sans car again and out the money to fix the piece of crap.

The kitties are still hilarious, and snuggle like mad. I just clipped Domino's claws again, and boy is that an adventure! I needed Josh to hold her still and still needed help!

Right now Josh is avoiding me because I am still kind of steamed that he didn't back up like a normal person and ended up breaking the car. Except I am not mad anymore, so his behaviour is what is bugging me now. I really hope his dad will be willing to help fix the damn car. *insert a billion explicatives*

Now to wait for him to get back from towing the car so I can sleep before work tomorrow.

Haircut take two

So I didn't like how it looked.... and I cut it again. This should be the end of the haircut saga.

I hated the little tickly hairs, so I showered before these pix, hence the being wrapped up in something.

Also, in the pictures I look like an ugly man. Please excuse me for it.

Dry hair pix tomorrow.

A little more adventurous

Okay!

For those of you who don't already know, I have been working at Outdoor School for the last three and a half weeks since finals. ODS, in case you wondered, is where kids come out to a campsite for a week and live, breathe, and enjoy learning about and being in nature. I have heard the oddest things. One of which is that I am apparently intimidating and unapproachable. Admittedly, that was a week where I had a constant headache and it was hard for me to turn on my care face when in pain.

I have two kitties. Which are Domino and Princess. Domino for her looks, Princess for her amusing attitude. They love to cuddle, which I love!

Domino is a climber and thinks she is a parrot! As a result, Josh has many scratches all up his legs and chest from her climbing UP his leg and chest to sit on his shoulder. She also likes to groom his facial hair. She tried to groom my face, but it didn't work.

Princess likes attention and cuddles and will angrily "mew" at you if you don't cuddle her. Once you pick her up, she is all purrs. She also thinks she needs to taste-test everything, the oddball.

The apartment is an interesting situation. We are getting used to living with each other, and trying to make it so the "rules" match up. So far we have argued about half the time I am home from ODS. But the arguments seem to be decreasing as time goes on, so hopefully there will be none. It is also not too clean yet, as we are still unpacking and deciding what goes where.

This weekend was my sister's grad party, a wedding, and Josh's brother's graduation. All of which Josh and I attended between Friday afternoon and Saturday night! The sad part is that Friday morning was striking ALL of ODS. Man, I have been so tired this weekend!I also decided to cut my hair. At random and slightly by accident. Accident because I was trimming my bangs, then went to even them, then decided it looked funny and cut again... and again... and now it is shorter, but possibly not quite tweaked the way I like it. I will post more of that riveting adventure as it unfolds. For now it looks like this:
Amazing, huh?

Well, back to being silly and free before I start work tomorrow, and a potential second part-time job soon!

Salem, Oregon. ODS. And Laaaameness.

Okay,
I am sitting alone in my apartment that Josh and I got this year. He has decided that he is going to stay for the year, which makes me happy in a sense, and terribly sad in another. He won't be as lonely, and we will be able to save money... but he will be giving up what he thought was his dream for the school year. Is it really that possible to be sad for getting what I wanted? So we are settling in.

I got an internship for Outdoor School (ODS), as a waste-management curriculum enforcer/eco-happy hippy staff member. Pretty much my job is to enforce the waste-reduction curriculum and try to get these sixth graders to a) have fun and b) get the message so that hopefully they will go home and teach it to others.

I get only $9/hr, and only 40hrs a week, but it is okay, since room, food, electric at site, etc. is included on top of the 40 hours. So, in short, no overtime but bonuses on food and a warm room.

I will be starting a job at WU for the summer, only 20 hrs a week, but that is okay for me. I will be needing to get a secondary job for the rest of the summer, but it will be going to pay off the bills that I owe, especially for my education and for the outstanding loans that I have aquired.

The lame part of this post is that I hate that when I am home (Sat-Sun), Josh decides he is gonna go North and spend his weekend playing games at a family LAN party, and telling stories. This while I am staying at home and trying to recuperate from a trying week at ODS. I am terribly lonely. On top of that, I tried to cooperate and come to some compromise that made us both happy. Lame enough to say, no matter what the compromise it wasn't good enough. He'd have to leave the family party (that starts at noon thirty) at about 9pm to get back to Salem at a decent time. And he doesn't want to. Makes me feel both annoyed at his childishness and like I get what I deserve for leaving him alone in the apartment all week while I am out making money at ODS. *sigh*

Enough complaining, though... hopefully you are having a great summer and relaxing like I am attempting to do on my weekend off.

Much love.
~N

In which Nikki is still dead, but looks a bit more alive

Okay, my lovely readers (and by readers I mean you, Alexis), it is time for an update.

Here is the list, the idea for which I shamelessly stole from Alexis. Note the strikethroughs!

1. Environmental Geology - Final Paper (60ish pages) Due Thursday by 5:15pm
1a. geology
1b. volcanic hazards
1c. seismic hazards (earthquakes)
1d. mass wasting hazards (commonly known as landslides)
1e. rivers and flooding hazards (WAS NOT COMPLETE)
1f. groundwater hazards (poison, toxins, what the hell are you drinking from your private well)
1g. Introduction, Conclusion (WAS NOT DONE, but turned in anyway)
1h. Appendices, Bibliography, Table of Contents

2. Water Resources - Final Paper (15-20 pages) Due Saturday at 11am
This paper is about Arsenic in Groundwater and why it sucks.
I got a 45/55 on this, which is amazing considering I was really really dead and stopped caring. This put me at a B for the class.

3. GIS - Final project Due NEXT Tuesday, 8am
3a. Get details (Possibly involving eating at one of the restaurants I am researching)
3b. put together project WIP
3c. do powerpoint on what I did WIP
3d. Be there at 8am next Tuesday to present it, present it.

4. Japanese - Study for Exam Not due, but Exam Friday, 9am.
I got a B on the exam, which puts me at a B for the class.

So that is the 411, I am working on the GIS final now, and really need to get back to work.

Later!
~N

Still dead, but posting this anyway

So...

I officially have focus issues. But it is almost not my fault. You see, I am moving into an apartment with my fiance, editing a 60 page paper, writing an 18-20 page paper, studying for Japanese, doing a GIS project and powerpoint on "How I did it", and trying to find work for the summer.

Unfortunately, that means my brain is dealing with so many things that it actually refuses to deal with anything. At all. As in my papers have made decent progress in the hour I was able to work on them, but otherwise my brain doesn't work. Hence me writing a blog instead of doing my papers. (However, it is quite true that I have had to do work at work right now and 15 minutes isn't long enough to work on a paper when you have to map the network drive, get out the notes, and look up what still needs to be edited. Blogging I can do with minimal referencing and takes less focus.)

So. To blatantly copy someone else (really good idea, Alexis), I am going to make my list...

1. Environmental Geology - Final Paper (60ish pages) Due THIS Thursday by 5:15pm
1a. geology
1b. volcanic hazards
1c. seismic hazards (earthquakes)
1d. mass wasting hazards (commonly known as landslides)
1e. rivers and flooding hazards
1f. groundwater hazards (poison, toxins, what the hell are you drinking from your private well)
1g. Introduction, Conclusion
1h. Appendices, Bibliography, Table of Contents

2. Water Resources - Final Paper (15-20 pages) Due THIS Saturday at 11am
This paper is about Arsenic in Groundwater and why it sucks.

3. GIS - Final project Due NEXT Tuesday, 8am
3a. Get details (Possibly involving eating at one of the restaurants I am researching)
3b. put together project
3c. do powerpoint on what I did
3d. Be there at 8am next Tuesday to present it, present it.

4. Japanese - Study for Exam Not due, but Exam THIS Friday, 9am.


So there you have it, all laid out and pretty (only not).

And that doesn't count moving stuff into the apartment, rearranging said apartment, getting things to furnish said living space, getting a job for the summer, and/or figuring out bills.

Fun, fun.

Okay, now that I have wasted time, I gotta get lunch, then return to working on this stuff.

Love ya, bye.

Death By Education

Ooookay,
I am 2 weeks from finals (1.5, actually), have two huge papers to write, a Japanese oral exam (which sounds funny, I know), a Japanese written final exam, and a GIS presentation at 8am on a Tuesday.

What am I doing?

Attempting to breathe.

I mean really, it is kind of hard. I have been taking the week of simply because my mind has been so fucked! You should totally find my friend's blog about Genderfunk. It is awesome!

Just a note: still bodily alive, but my brain has experienced death by education.

One hour till freedom

Okay, so I am being a good student and not paying attention in class because my brain is elsewhere, but am actually here on the day before spring break. I am taking notes on the computer because I forgot my pencil and/or pen, so I cannot write in a notebook. I look more attentive than I am when I do that... and when I sketch in the notebook.

So, they say that if you are sketching, you are actually paying more attention...

So, spring break is gonna be kind of really boring. I don't have any major plans. I have a birthday and Josh is planning on taking me to a nice restaurant for lunch for my birthday.. or dinner (cause I like the crab they serve at dinner) if he has the money. It is reeeaally pricey. And makes me feel expensive... I don't even know if they do the free birthday meal for lunch. It is my 21st, so I might get something alcoholic that I don't like just for the hell of it. Good thing he can drive as of my birthday, so if I do anything stupid he can drive.

We totally just spent the first 20 minutes of class talking about papers, and the first 5 minutes of the distracted 20 laughing at a classmate's small child's antics. He decided to bow out of class to reduce distraction. I am gonna try to email him my notes. I don't know how good they are gonna be.

I am soooo frazzle-brained and kind of out of it today due to lack of sleep and lack of getting things done that I am supposed to do... only to find out that he doesn't really care if we turn them in, it is just a free reading and analysis without being graded. Too bad my rewrites kind of really suck.

I am sending in my computer today, for fixing. When I get it back, I will have to come to WU to pick it up. Fuu. I am gonna wanna sleeeep. Maybe I will take a nap after I get out of class... yes, I think so. *sigh* I still have half an hour to go... and then to drop off my computer...

List of things to do (no particular order):
( )1. Homework for the following Monday
( )2. Dirty clothes in the trashbag
( )3. Strip/remake the bed, stuff bedding in trashbag to take home
( )4. dishes
( )5. miscellaneous cleaning
( )6. Ship off the computer
( )7. Sleeeeep

Okay, now to stop being goofy and start paying attention.

Cannot Cannot Cannot FOCUS

It is the day before Spring Break begins (aka Thursday before Spring Break, as SB starts on Friday afternoon) and I have so much to do before I can leave!

Here is the list of homework due, uhm, TOMORROW(there is an X in the parentheses if it is done already):

( )1. Completely rewrite my Geology of Oregon paper.
( )2. Edit my Landslides Paper.
( )3. Edit my Volcanoes Paper.
( )4. Edit my Earthquake Paper.
(X)5. Do the Problem Set for Environmental Geology.
( )6. Read 55 pages and write an insightful commentary complete with summary of themes, some reflections, and a well-thought-out question or three.

Here the list of to-dos continues, but it is expanded to things needed done by tomorrow night:

( )7. Pack up my broken computer to ship out tomorrow.
( )8. Do my dishes that reeeeaaaallly need to be done.
( )9. Stuff all my dirty laundry into giant black trash bags to take home and launder.
( )10. Organize my room/clean it up
( )11. Pack up all the things I want to take with me for the break, i.e. basketry stuff, books I want to share with siblings, homework that I really shouldn't put off or I'll end up in this mess of too much that needs done again. (Note how I am totally getting my work done at this moment.)

So that is my list of things to do. Shower, eat, and sleep are in there somewhere, as are going to work and/or class. (Like I should be doing tonight but may not be able to... or will and am just bringing my homework along.)

Le sigh.

And Spring Break is my birthday, so it will be interesting to see if people treat me any different as I age.

~N

Powwow (and other news)

So, Powwow happened on the 14th. The day before (Friday the 13th) I had to drive an hour northward to pick up Josh so he could attend the dinner and meetings. By the way, I am on the Native Advisory Council for Willamette, so I had to go to a dinner on Friday and meetings. Because she is in the club, Alexis got to go to dinner. She was invited to the meetings but respectfully declined.

I was rather annoyed to, but got to get up at 8am on Saturday morning to head over for meetings. Josh and I were in the meetings until 11:15, at which time we left to prep for powwow. At 11:30 I started getting things together for vendors to arrive. I had the clipboard of doomy-doom, and was vendor relations. Basically, I checked them in and made sure that they did not swap spots on us. Alexis did the same job, only on the inside. Most of the time, we did swap out when I was finally really cold and wanted to swap for warming-up time.

It was raining (okay, drizzling) and windy, so the drops were being blown into us under the gazebo-popup thing. Which blew totally away once, and partly away another two or three times. Funfun.

Anywho, the vendors were amazingly nice. The bumps were smoothed over very quickly and nicely so we had no trouble once everyone was set up. There was a lot of friendliness and gaiety. Alexis and I were working for the first few hours, into powwow proper, which started at 4pm. Annie came by to hang out, but Alexis and I were babysitting a booth, then doing offical stuff for a bit before we could sit down. By the time we were able to sit and chat, we wanted food. Annie had already eaten and was bored and felt kind of like we didn't want to hang out, which was totally usou.

We had a lot of interesting cultural lessons. There were a few whistling of the drums (asking for the drums to sing for a specific reason), as well as TWO feathers being dropped and having to be retrieved. There is an entire ceremony that goes into retrieving the feathers, as they can stand for a range of things. The most commonly accepted are a) sacredness of the feather needs to be honoured, and b) a fallen warrior that needs to be prayed for. In b, it is believed that a soldier has fallen, a life was dropped, and that we need to give it new life and honour the soldier.

We got TIUA students to dance, and Alexis showed off her dancing skills that we have painfully been working on for the past week. We will continue the dance practice still, however, because it is good exercise and more fun than treadmills and bicycles followed by crunches on a mat. It works the entire body and improves posture! However, our first lesson and a half were on thin carpet of concrete, so we kind of fucked our legs over before we even started, which caused pain. Sadly, I couldn't dance well.

Josh competed in the grass dance competition! At first there were only 3 or 4 other dancers, so he had good odds. Others showed up by the time of the contest. Unfortunately, out of practice, Josh didn't win. That is okay, he tried! He looked damn hot, too, since his legs were nicely exposed and I could watch him shake it. haahaa. Okay, shake it is the wrong descriptor, but that is okay. He is sexy anyway.

Now I am very hurriedly trying to study for my Japanese exam tomorrow (it is already quarter after midnight and I haven't had the time. Maybe I should have really skipped Coraline). I did my FAFSA in 15 minutes with little knowledge since I haven't done my taxes. I did most of my reading and a shitty commentary for class. Go me.

Gotta go study and cuddle Josh some more before he leaves for his Finals tomorrow. Ganbatte!!

~N

Things are gettin Started!

So, I have applied to be a Summer CA (somethin Associate). SCA. Not to be confused with the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) that I have participated in as a child. so to deliniate, the job I applied for will be the Summer CA.

We had the group interview today. One was definitely some sort of psych exam, asking who on gilligan's crew would be left behind and what would be left behind and who/what would go on the boat. We wanted all the people and the water filter. We also made an inter-floor gift-giving basket out of tinsel, iPod headphones, a basket, a bicycle pump, two gear thingies and some skewers. Not the best invention in the world.

We also did ice-breaker thingies. I knew many people there, and there was the distinct smell of garlic pizza in the room that pissed me off royally.

So, I am one of the 30 people in the room vying for 10 positions. Hopefully it will work out that the people I know get the job... I know they would make good Summer CAs.

Now to do my homework, only likely not since I am really feather-brained right now.

Spring ahead = not so springy

Seriously, it isn't! It makes people tired and grumpy. Including myself.

So, if you haven't heard and if I didn't already post this (highly possible I did), this will be the first exciting time you get to hear about my chance to pick a tick off my fiance's neck. Totally exciting... not.

I thought it was a zit when my finger first brushed over it, so I looked. Nope. In all its eight-legged, blood-sucking glory was a small-headed tick firmly attached to my the back of Josh's neck, discreetly hiding in the hairline.

The solution? Kill it with fire. Okay, not kill, make it let go of Josh... Problem: we cannot put zippo lighter so near his neck (very sensitive in the back) and do not want to put it so near his very long, very pretty hair. So we steal a fork from the kitchen and heat that to pester the pest into letting go. Oh, with a borrowed lighter.

So the fucker dies without letting go, which is more annoying because we then get to pull it OFF him and pray that we get it all. Of COURSE, he won't go to the ER over what he thinks is silly. A tick. Apparently he has dealt with these annoyances before while trapeizing through the gorge.

Fun.

In other news, we went to Kyoto, the tasty restaurant, for the joint birthday party between Alexis and I. It was lots of fun and really tasty, despite the fact that our cook was firing the bad jokes off like crazy. We brought actual Japanese people to the fakey Japanese restaurant, so they were astonished at the bad jokes. I am hoping not too offended. Our waitress spoke Japanese, which was all good since one of our TIUA student friends was having trouble ordering in English. She was really sweet.

Alexis and I each got a chibi iced cream with a birthday candle. When the waitress brought it she asked if we wanted her to sing. Alexis and I gratefully told her she could skip the singing. She looked pretty glad, too! The boys got in a race to see who could eat the most food. Atsushi ate half of Josh's expensive sushi. We thought he wanted another piece, not the whole plate, so we said "sure". Oops. Poor Josh wanted to save some of that for breakfast. *Sadness* I will have to learn how to make good sushi for him. They were really tasty, too, with tempura filing in one, unagi (fresh water eel) in another, and smoked salmon in the third. Maybe I will buy him tasty sushi soon, if I cannot master making it.

Right now I am sitting at work(MMWR). The clock says it is 10:30, but my brain knows it is only 9:30 and the clock lies because of daylight savings time. It is silly we still have it since it was originally instituted so that the very agrarian society at the time could get more work out of the poor children. Now there are very few farming communities, so I, personally, wouldn't mind if it were abolished. Then there wouldn't be "daylight savings syndrome" every spring. The hour "extra" in the fall isn't worth the torment of spring's getting up too early.

Lies. The clock is usouing.

Oh! And I just remembered. I am no longer usouing to Alexis. The present is done and in her possession. However, I would like to recommend that they are not tried on till tonight at 10pm or later, and not danced in till Thursday just in case the uber strong glue is still setting.

Alright, catch you another day.
~N

I do exist

I have decided that I am, in fact, not a mythical creature as rumour would have one believe. I have just been busy.

The present for Alexis is not finished... still... and it is two days after it was promised and was totally spoiled by the fact that I had to make sure it fit right. *sigh* For those of you who don't know, it is a pair of moccasins... and the first time I have ever made them at that!

I have done way too much homework and am appalled by looking at my schedule. I have a Japanese test the Monday after Powwow, and a Japanese oral exam the day before. The day before I have a dinner that starts at 6:30, with a reception before starting at 6pm. Then I have a meeting till I-don't-know-when. After that it is sleep, then up for my 8:30 meeting that goes until about 11:15. Then I zip over to my room, then to the gym to help with the vendor setup. I stay there pretty much the entire time, until cleanup ends around midnight. So I am damn dedicated to the Powwow and the Native Advisory board of which I am a part because I am NAEA Co-President.

By the way, anyone who actually reads this should totally go to Powwow. That means you, Alexis, but I know you will be there anyway, my trusty counterpart!

The info:
7th Annual Social Powwow
Saturday, March 14th
4pm - 10PM
Willamette University
FREEEEE

There are vendors and dancers and drummers/singers and food and lots of fun. You can also win fun, cool stuff like jewelry or hotel packages. Or the grand prize: A Pendleton blanket!!

Now I have to get all ready to go present to TIUA students at a meeting that is boring them to tears and already going on for way too long and pretend I am supposed to be there and make them interested in Powwow. Yay....

Did I mention you should go to Powwow? Like, get your arrangements made now?

Strange dreams the second ::LONG POST::

Okay, apparently I have a gift for strange dreams. Just to let you guys know, this one is kind of surreal and somewhat gory. I will edit out a bunch of the gore, but it will still be really strange.

Start: I am on the bus going from home to Downtown Portland to go to my alma mater SMA. Except I get on the wrong bus and there is this guy who keeps looking at me funny. I get off the bus and walk to the proper station nearby to get downtown. I don't recognize the area, but the dream me knows it. (And happens to be about 50+ pounds lighter than I am and slimmer. Man, I want that bod. *insert allusion to bad colognes bad commercial and gets shot*)

Okay, so the start is not so bad. But the dude followed me and I get off again, and downtown is no downtown I have ever seen. Too many trees. Okay, I have seen it... in another dream where I killed two men in cold blood by dropping them off a cliff. They were gonna kill me and had killed my family, but that is a completely different strange dream story.

Anyway, I end up in this house where we are having a party in the basement. The dream-me knows everyone except I don't actually recognize anyone that was in the dream as anyone I know in this world. I end up holding this young man (around my age) who is shaking and crying and trying not to do something. I am trying to help him not do something, though (at this point) I have no idea what I am attempting to prevent. He has short, dark hair, and looks native... southern native of the variety usually confused with Mexicans, but with the wrong nose to be from Mexico. He is beautiful, too, kind of girly. The dream-me is kind of really attracted to him. Since the dream me looks nothing like the real me (saw me in a mirror entering the house), I assume that it is the equivalent of the Josh character in the dream. Anywho, enough analysis.

So all of a sudden he explodes. Figuratively. The next thing I see is this oaken boken he has sharpened and is using to massacre everyone at the party. Apparently comfort did nothing to stop it, but delayed it to when everyone is nonchalant and chill. Noone screams when he is killing them. It is eerily normal. Normal tones. Normal interactions. Normal patterns of speech. Until the person dies. So, needless to say, I wake up after blacking out as a corpse.

Okay, the other corpses are creepy as hell. They are laying in poses impossible in life unless one is a damn good contortionist. All of them have blue eyes. Okay, not blue as in pretty blue natural eyes. As in the icy, piercing blue of the arctic, where water has been frozen to a very pale blue. The whites of their eyes are black, which accentuates the blue, and the pupils are black. Okay, creepy much? And the creepier part? They are all staring at me. I am on the floor. Freaking hot psycho dude is holding me and crying and whispering "why?" as he rocks back and forth. Why? Well, you kind of went psyco and killed me.

Then my older brother and his woman companion come (I say 'his woman companion' because I have the impression she is his wife/fiance/girlfriend, but could not decide). He calmly surveys the dead until he sees me, when he is startled to see that I am dead. But not quite, actually. After listening very closely there was a dull, faint pulse that was beating entirely too slow and entirely too weakly to support me for long and it is surprising that I am not already totally dead. I have a large wound on my left shoulder, right below where I broke it when I was eleven (apparently it was still the same in the dream world. And that is where they were poking at me and it hurt) and all most all the way through. Another wound was on my right side, just above my hip. Thanks for striking two main blood vessels.

They wash all the corpses, while hot dude of psychoness holds me. He is still crying, but seems calmer. They shroud the corpses then start washing the huge amounts of blood off of me and bind my wounds. I have lost a lot of blood and have trouble keeping consciousness, but what consciousness I do have is sharper than obsidian. They say that I will live as long as none of the huge-ass clotted wounds open and drain what precious little blood I have yet. They start to carry me to a truck where they are gonna lay me in the back seat. The bandage around my torso snagged on one of the latches, pulling against my chest and ripping open the wound on my left shoulder. I made a soft cry of pain and the dream faded to black, with the hot psycho's face in my field of going vision. He was crying, apologizing, and asking/pleading/ordering me not to go.

It didn't work and the dream went to black for about thirty seconds before my alarm woke me.... what a knack for odd dreams, ne? I really want to draw the scene where all the corpses were staring, it was vivid and freaky and kind of fun. *shot due to weirdness*

***
In other news, Josh and I struck on the same idea. He intended to surprise me with it and that failed miserably as I came up with the same idea. He is so cute! So now I am waiting for his arrival, but I don't know when that will be, as we compromised. He will come like we both want, but I don't know when he is arriving but to know that it is after dinner. So it is still kind of a surprise.

And Alexis keeps eating my Gardetto Garlic Rye chips. I will need to ask Josh for more and give him money so he will keep buying it for me. No idea how long the "by special request" bags of only the brown crunchies will be around... I should stock up. Good thing I was raised to share and like giving them to her.

Now that I have wasted my work hour typing this and checking various things, I am gonna let you stop reading a ton of my ramblings and log out.

~N