3amTherapy Sessions

Honestly?

2009-11-07T17:59:00.005-05:00

Doing some online Christmas shopping, findgift.com suggested:

Question 1: For whom, exactly, would either of these be an appropriate gift?
Question 2: What exactly is findgift.com assuming about my friends and family?

So, Merry Christmas ... I'll be giving everyone herpes!

Um, actually ... maybe not ;P

decalgirl is cool :)

2009-10-29T16:48:00.004-04:00

Part of the process of "moving into" a new phone includes, of course, making it 'purty' (everyone knows that!). So I went looking online for ways to beautify my new phone ... and that's when I ran across www.decalgirl.com - where I found (and bought) the following ADORABLE skins:

The only bad thing is that (with hindsight) I now wish I'd bought the dual SIM iPhone knock-off rather than the dual SIM Nokia e71 knock-off because I really would have LOVED to buy this one:

Valley Falls

2009-10-22T15:33:00.007-04:00

My dad and I went out to Valley Falls on Monday (finally the weather cooperated and ceased to be 7 shades of grey). Here are some pics:

Playing with the camera in my new phone ..

2009-10-09T15:27:00.005-04:00

Princess (and my dad's foot) at the Vet Today:

Fall Leaves (at the vet's office):

sorry I've been a bit MIA ...

2009-10-01T16:05:00.004-04:00

I've been busy, a bit stressed-out, and sort of lazy (a deadly combination for blogging). I'm also developing a serious Midrin dependency ... I've been getting like 2 or 3 migraines a week lately - which is also not good for blogging - UGH!

On the slightly brighter side ... I'm planning a trip to Mexico this Dec. (there's a tour with my name all over it!). If I like it down there, I might go teach English for a few months (until we're actually ready to do something about moving, come next Spring). We'll see. But all I know for sure is that I'm really NOT in the mood for more limbo, and that's what's on the agenda around here for the next little while. If I don't get away from it for awhile I will go completely insane. So, I've been blowing a lot of online time looking up crap about Mexico :)

BTW, we're eying moving back to California again.

Tomorrow is another trip to the vet for the second shot for Princess in our quest to try to improve her arthritis. The shots are designed to increase the fluid/lubrication of the joints. The loading dose is 3 shots, a week apart, and supposedly you can often/usually tell within the few days following the second shot whether it's going to help. So my fingers are crossed very tightly for an improvement in her walking by early next week.

My fingers are also crossed for my dad, who has an appointment with an ENT doc tomorrow AM. He's had a course of antibiotic pills, antibiotic drops, and now a course of prednisone, and his ear is STILL miserably blocked up! :(

Homework 1

2009-09-02T18:20:00.004-04:00

I just found out about this really cool thing (thanks to Compulsive Writer and LaYen):

And since I am WAY behind in the assignments, I decided to start off with a simple prompt - just to get the ball rolling. So, I apologize for how boring this might be for everyone, but (per my chosen prompt) here's a list of writing projects I want to finish:

I want to convert the film script (that I've decided not to make as a film anymore) into a play.
Finish the untitled novel I started for NaNoWriMo 2007, or possibly wrap it up and be satisfied with it as a short story.
Finish "RC" (novel, I think - we'll see) - preferably without letting it drive me insane.
Write "FOL" (tentatively a novel).
I'd like to manage an article per week on Triond, just to foster a habit of regular writing (whether I'm feeling inspired/epic or not).

I used to have an order for these things, but I've found that I can't work that way. I can force myself to keep writing on a certain project, but the forced stuff never comes out as something I like and/or want to keep. So it's better for me to switch back and forth between things I feel in sync with.

But I do want/need to lay out a schedule (and stick to it) to write SOMETHING every day. I now feel like it's OK for me to flitter around wherever "inspiration" leads me, but I do need to get more disciplined about daily writing (finding an hour a week, just ain't cutting it).

Ginger is a girl's best friend!

2009-08-29T23:23:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share with the ladies in the "audience" that I have a GREAT tip for dealing with menstrual cramps (should this be a plague we share). The gentleman, have permission to leave the room ;)

I am ALWAYS looking for something to cure my cramps - I've spent years murdering my kidneys and shredding my liver with Advil and Tylenol, and have tried EVERYTHING from extra calcium supplements to Parafon Forte. I will try ANYTHING that promises me some relief, and I have always kept the faith that one day one of them would work, though none of them ever really have. I read recently, in Good Housekeeping, that a study had been done which said 250 mg. of ginger every four hours is supposed to help. So I decided to give it a try.

Not being able to find a local source for ginger pills, I ordered some online - 550 mg capsules from drugstore.com. It was like MAGIC! For me, it worked from within 20 minutes of the first pill, lasted between 6 to 8 hours per pill, AND left me COMPLETELY pain free (which is much more than I can say for anything else I've ever tried). Es un milagro!

Look .....

2009-08-26T14:24:00.004-04:00

what our pear tree (planted last fall) gave us today:

It's about 3.5 inches tall and looks just like a real pear (okay, it is real, but you know what I mean, lol). And, miracle of miracles, WE got it rather than the birds (unlike our cherries, of which I don't think we've ever gotten a single one in 10 years!).

Was I the only one paying no attention?

2009-08-22T18:36:00.006-04:00

I love to read - I pretty much always have. And I was lucky enough to have grown-up around several well-spoken people. As a result, I've always had a fairly decent grasp of the English language ... and always did well enough in English class to never really have to pay much attention during it.

Most of the time, I can get it right - and usually without a whole lot of thinking. There is, of course, the (not so) odd typo - not to mention the signs of early Alzheimer's (where I just 'totally space' and put "that" instead of "the"). That pesky little matter of affect/effect always forces me to think a bit (and I think I still get it wrong more often than not). But usually I get the right kind of your/you're and their/there; know when to use who/whom or imply/infer; and know that "a lot" is two words, rather than one. And despite watching a lot of judge shows I am still aware that "conversate", "insultate", and "irregardless" are NOT words.

But I had NO idea about this one:

(click above to see the original blog post)

Hopefully, one of these days, I'll get it right .... oh damn!

pretty good morning

2009-08-21T12:46:00.003-04:00

I took the day "off" from the errands that NEED to be run because my foot is 'paining' me from the stuff I already did (it's a toss-up as to whether I should blame Mal-Wort on Wednesday or taking the dogs to the vet yesterday). Instead, I ... think(!!) I finally got the last of the bugs out of my website for my new business (HERE); I reworked my short story one last time, decided I liked it the best I ever would, and submitted it (now it's someone else's headache); and used some of my Swagbucks (through Seed The Future) to plant a tree in Tanzania.

limbo redux

2009-08-06T13:45:00.003-04:00

Well, July certainly chewed me up and spat me out ... and August isn't improving on that, so far.

1) We are NOT taking the previously posted house after all - it simply had much too much wrong with it.

2) We are all in turmoil now due to the fact that we cannot agree on our next move. My father and I are both of the opinion that we should: let go of the idea of moving to either Las Vegas (which we have still been watching) or California; stay here; and fix the house the rest of the way, and buy an investment property, before the money's all gone! We both think it's evident, from the pattern of things, that the move just isn't going to happen - everything we like we get outbid on, and everything we don't get outbid on we don't like because it needs too much work (more than we could really afford to do until after the house here sold). My mother however .... cannot be budged from California.

3) We are, none of us, in good moods these days - and I, for one, am about to strangle my mother (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but you get the point). I would seriously like to know why "2 out of 3" was a good enough policy to come here, and yet it's not good enough to let us all start focusing on getting on with life now (even though life would be gotten on with HERE, and she doesn't want to be HERE). I am one false move (by my mother) away from leaving, for good. I've more than had it, and for once I have the money to go. If the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again expecting different results - I MUST be insane to still be here. I swore to myself before we came here this time - that if any of the (major) promises didn't turn out as advertised (for example: no investment properties = no money for hiring someone to look after my mother = no more of a life of my own than I had before), I would be done. I have tried to be "on board", to be a "team player" and all that other crap. But here I am - more than a year later - without a clear picture of what's going on, and not a single change for the better. I think more than a year, is more than fair!

4) I think my dad and I are planning on working on the small unfinished fixes around here that we either already have the stuff to do or won't cost much (like putting in the new door that has been sitting on our porch for months, and fixing it so the upstairs bathtub can be used as a shower (instead of having to go downstairs). But neither one of us is thrilled by having to keep from tackling the major things that need doing. And I'm planning on registering for school this semester (have lived here long enough now for in-state tuition rates). My mother claims she's going to keep looking and find us the "right" house. If by some miracle she finds it - good for her, but I, at least, will be staying here (at least long enough to complete a semester) .... and I will not be moved on that! But so help me, if I end up being stuck in this house the way it is (the kitchen, for example, drives me insane on a daily basis), while the money is frittered away because my mother can't stop looking longingly at California .... I will be SO done, and so out of here!

PS - this may sound like a rant, but believe me - this is me holding it together as best I can!

FINALLY

2009-07-30T16:24:00.013-04:00

So we FINALLY have had an offer accepted on a house (just when I had resolved / announced to my parents that if we didn't have an offer accepted by August 16th I would be registering for classes at the local community college). We're going to be moving to Apple Valley, CA, to this house:

It's not currently the most adorable thing, but it WILL be! It's in MAJOR need of a new paint job (the house was built in 1979, and the paint is flaking off of it, but there apparently isn't any other paint underneath it - so it's a 30-year-old paint job - no wonder it's flaking off!), and has a couple other little things wrong with it, but nothing we can't easily fix. It's also only 1401 sq. ft., for now, but we'll be converting the 2 car garage into a family room so it'll be fine. On the plus side of the equation - it's on almost a full acre, with the possibility of being zoned properly (haven't checked yet) for .... chickens! But either way there will plenty of room for a pool for my mom, a yard for the dogs, and space to garden :)

So, if it passes it's general inspection, it's termite inspection, and it's septic system inspection, we'll probably be moving in September.

In preparation for the move, I've begun the big clear out (the one I should have been working on for months already) of stuff I'm not taking with me, by listing some things (mostly books) on ebay (more to come ASAP). Going to try to insert the widget for my items below.

Note, the widget only seems to show some of the items (and not very attractively, IMHO) - anyway, the whole (ever expanding) list can be found at:
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bookworm75books

California Virginia Ludi

2009-07-23T06:11:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to write this post for a week now, but just haven't felt like it. Our middle dog, Cali (aka: Cali-Cal, aka: Lili, aka: Lili Monkey, aka: Monekyflower), had to be put to sleep in the early morning hours of July 16th (my mom's birthday). And since I still don't really feel like writing this, I think I will just post some pics of her.

You will notice a theme of her being on the furniture (she even preferred to dine while reclining on a sofa or hassock) ... she had a slight Napoleon complex, but it was all part of her charm! :)

April 1999 - July 16th 2009

ghosties?

2009-07-08T16:21:00.004-04:00

Normally, I don't much care for Ghost Hunters International (IMHO it's a weak rip-off of the WAY better regular Ghost Hunters show), but the new season starts tonight and I'm actually vaguely excited about it.

Reason?

Because they're going somewhere I've actually been (Wicklow Gaol), and it was creepy enough in broad daylight!

Fingers crossed for something (anything!) more than the usual "Dude, did you hear that?" :)

because I have nothing to say for myself ....

2009-06-28T11:20:00.006-04:00

I was going to post a blogthings quiz (just to keep from having this be a 'one post wonder' for the month of June), but then I thought I would post this instead (since there doesn't seem to be a facebook fan page to join for it):

It's called "How to Find a Husband" it's on FLN (schedule here - starts over in July) and though I missed 4 weeks of the middle of it (will try to remember to catch the repeats), it was still REALLY funny!

*Spoiler alert: I think Sally didn't actually find a husband in 10 weeks (I know, I'm stunned too .. I mean, ya go on 70 dates, with 50 guys (in the span of 10 weeks) ... all with a camera practically up your noses and somehow Cupid's arrows miss you? Who'd a thunk it?).

spring cleaning

2009-06-10T02:00:00.003-04:00

Have been focusing for the last week or two on cleaning and reorganizing my room (most especially my desk area so that I can be able to work more on certain things). So far I've put together a free-standing closet, a side table, and the world's cutest little canister vacuum (the canister portion of which is about the size of my big green purse) all without swearing! :) Today's swiveling office chair was harder - had to get my dad's help on it - but still no swearing. We'll see how my record holds up when I finally tackle my "office in a box" (desk, bookcase, and file cabinet). Anyway, photos may (or may not) be forthcoming.

My foot is still wrecked - am stretching, icing, and splinting the stupid thing left right and center ... but it's still unbearable. I've been icing it more and splinting it less lately, and I think that might be part of my problem (the icing makes it feel better, but isn't necessarily the best position for it). Haven't been on the treadmill once since I got home :(

But on the upside - I got a bit of a windfall .. so I've been able to make a huge dent in my saving for the FSTM Budget goal. Now the only question is whether or not I really want to do that with the money. It seems I will have the entire budget now by Christmas .. but I'm not sure whether or not I still want to make a film. I so totally let go of the idea of ever being able to do that when we moved back here (which was REALLY hard to do at the time) that I'm not sure how I feel about it now. But I've got plenty of time to think about it (won't even have the rest of the money for another 6 months).

my new best friend

2009-05-29T21:02:00.004-04:00

Went to the ortho Doc this morning where I was examined (he knew EXACTLY where to press to make it hurt), x-rayed, and pronounced heel-spur-free (just suffering from a grumpy plantar fascia) - I would be doing a happy-dance if I were capable (having foot surgery is not high on my bucket list!) - am SO happy!

So, I was shown some stretches (which I have already tried and, much to my surprise, they actually feel sort of good rather than hurting), was told to "ice it" often - especially by using a frozen water bottle that I roll back and forth under my foot (that sounds good to me!), and to wear ...

MY NEW BEST FRIEND (my 'night splint'):

Had it on during my nap (only had 3 hours sleep last night so I grabbed a few more hours this afternoon), and it's back on now while watching tv (can't walk in it - makes me put too much weight on the part that hurts). Going back to the doctor in a month - he guessed it might take a few months of this to clear up (my fingers are crossed) ... and if I don't feel any better when I go back we can try "special" inserts rather than my OTC Dr. Scholls.

So far, I like my stretches and my splint .. looking forward to the icing :)

getting back to normal, more or less

2009-05-27T19:24:00.001-04:00

Well, the funeral went well - is it just me or is that a weird thing to say? My mom's sister went up for it and had a lovely visit with their brothers. And things, around here anyway, are settling back down again (though I'm still not making it to bed before 3am).

Most everything else going on here is trivial:

1) The other day I bought the new Tori Amos album on iTunes and I absolutely HATE it - which is shocking! Tori has always been one of a handful of people whose albums I just automatically buy when they come out - no hesitation. I managed to give one song a 3 star rating on iTunes (which means it'll come up in my playlist), and I gave another one 2 stars because I don't totally hate it. The rest of them I can't stand :(

2) I am getting my financial ducks into a well-ordered group (not quite in an actual row yet, lol) involving more automatic savings transactions (always pay yourself first!), a new Roth IRA Sharebuilder account (in addition to my regular Sharebuilder account and my Roth IRA Savings account), and some less traditional investments through both Microplace and LendingClub (which I found after prosper.com shut down - the feckers!).

3) I am doing pretty much ALL my online shopping (and so are my parents, because they are nice like that - and because I nagged them enough, lol) through the Delta SkyMiles Shopping site, and have earned about 5,500 miles this month just from doing my shopping this way. It's not very impressive when you consider I need about 75,000 to get a R/T ticket ... but it's all for stuff I was going to buy anyway, so there's a bit of a "FREE MONEY!" feel to it :)

4) Today I feel like I'm coming down with the flu. If it's swine flu I shall blame it on the pork in the Italian sausage in my Domino's pasta bowl - because we all know that's how you get it, LOL ;)

Now, as for the not so mundane .... it's looking more and more like Vegas isn't going to happen for us. We're still looking there, sort of, but we're SO fed up with the way things are working out there (specifically, the 'special' set of rules the Banks are playing by), that we've narrowed our search criteria to exclude foreclosures as well (we had already excluded short sales), and since very few people are stupid enough to voluntary put their house on the market now (unless it's a short sale) we are down to VERY few options in Vegas.

I had long ago gone very Zen about the whole thing - we'll get the right house when we get it - but now it's looking like Vegas is just a total 'no go'. If the banks would just play by the usual rules of the game, we'd have been able to close about 10 times over by now! But instead they're doing things like dangling houses on the market at prices they never really intend to accept and ignoring the offers they get (even full price ones) for months (!!!) while waiting for a number they like better. The whole market in Vegas is being run like some sort of auction with no set ending date. But the banks are pretty much the only game in town nowadays - and they know it!

So, we broadened our searching to other places in the region, including California (what we liked about Vegas was mostly that it was similar to California in many ways). And we seem to be settling on the area around Hemet, CA (go figure!). There's a cute house there (3 bed, 2 bath, 1438 sq ft. on .41 of an acre) we like a lot, and it's a probate sale rather than a foreclosure, but there are others we like too. The hospital there seems to be equivalent to the one we lived nearest to in Fullerton (and other even better ones are nearby), and there's more than one LDS church (another one of my mom's requirements); it's near enough to UC Riverside for me to avail myself of their fabulous-sounding Comparative Ancient Civilizations program, there's an Archaeology/Paleontology museum I can volunteer at, and the climate seems to be slightly more amenable for growing certain thing than Las Vegas would have been; and there's a massive man-made lake my dad can go fishing at, and a Bob's Big Boy just up the road (another one of his requested items).

So, it seems like it's now a VERY real possibility we're going to move back to Cali!

I am surprised ... but also pretty damn happy about it! :)

But seriously ... whether it's Vegas or Hemet, or Timbuktu, this is my last move (at least with all the people, pets, and possessions involved). If, after this move, either one of my parents ever mention the idea again .... I will be moving one last time ... into the State Pen - for murder (jk ... mostly ... LOL).

BTW, is it a good or bad sign that my inclination for this move is to just get rid of EVERYTHING I own except my bed, a box of computer stuff, and what fits in my luggage?

not much to say for myself

2009-05-21T15:27:00.006-04:00

So my Grandma's funeral is tomorrow - we got her EXACTLY the same funeral as my Bapa had, right down to the matching casket. It seems like it's been a LONG arduous process, but really it's only been since Monday that we took over the planning (much to my surprise the Mortuary is closed on weekends ... I guess people only die during the week in their small Nor Cal town), and with the exception of today it's gone smoothly - a couple phone calls and a couple faxes. Today had a glitch, but it's all resolved now - my mother spent a couple hours on the phone hassling with the bank because they were supposed to "open" the debit card to accept the full charge from the Mortuary at once, but apparently the bank entered a wrong number! Anyway, the process is now pretty much over - thankfully.

We picked these out for the funeral:

because my Grandma liked peach
(calling sometime later today to make sure they've arrived, is the last task to be completed).

Other than funeral stuff .... 1) my dad's b-day present arrived today (his b-day is Sat). I still haven't settled on what to get him for Father's Day. And 2) I have a doc appt. (about my foot) a week from tomorrow.

the call of the xbox

2009-05-18T20:07:00.001-04:00

My Dad - trying to talk me into playing xBox :)

if you know me ...

2009-05-09T22:29:00.006-04:00

you know I absolutely hate going to the doctor. If I can put it off, tough it out, pop OTC painkillers 'til the cows come home, or try some ineffectual home remedy - I will.

I will do ANYTHING to avoid a trip to the doctor. I blame my maternal grandma and her ingrained aversion to those in the profession, and my unsatisfactory dealings with many of them in the pursuit of getting decent care for my mom. I dislike doctors like some people hate lawyers! I will, and often do, look it up online to try to diagnose myself so that I can figure out whether I really have to go to the doctor or not (always trying to keep it on the 'not going' side of the fence). And the stupid part is - at this moment in my life anyway - I have full medical coverage ... I could go every day and have EVERY test, just for the hell of it. But I don't /won't.

Early in the year, Jan/Feb I would say, I began to be aware of this occasional pain in my left heel. By March it was worse - but I had a trip to go on, and I was sure it would "work itself out". But, I'm apparently going to have to break down and call this next week for an appointment with the good ortho guy up in Morgantown.

The item pictured below is my current saving grace and very likely the only way I will be able to stand (no pun intended) the wait (however long or short) for the appointment:

Sigh .... it's hell getting old!

my swans came back to say goodbye

2009-04-27T07:15:00.004-04:00

Don't know if I mentioned it on here or not, but the day that I arrived in Dublin I saw a pair of swans swimming in the Liffey (a rare enough site, I'm told since they prefer other locales). Since then I've seen a lone swan a couple times (just the other night I saw one paddling around at about 10pm). But yesterday evening I saw the pair of them again (and a duck), and grabbed my camera to try to get a couple pics - results below ...

Decorative Arts Museum

2009-04-24T08:40:00.003-04:00

So yesterday morning V and I went up on the Luas to the National Museum at Collins Barracks (the Decorative Arts and History 'branch', if you will). I didn't take my good camera because I knew it would be like the Arch. Museum with all it's pictographic little signs full of international NO symbols (NO food, NO drink, NO mobile phones, NO cameras, etc., etc.). But here's my camerphone pic of the outside:

For something more impressive looking, you can go HERE to see a really cool spinning panorama. Seeing everything took all morning, but then we had a lovely lunch at the cafe and headed back to the apt. to relax and regroup. Fortunately the heavier rain fell while we were inside planning the evening (we only had to use the umbrella on our walk down the street to the pub - by the time we went for pizza it was much lighter, and by the time we left the pizza place it had stopped - we had good luck yesterday!). BTW - I highly recommend Apache Pizza - really good pizza for a chain, and they had delicious jalapeno poppers!

However, while I was in the museum I couldn't resist the urge to take a (NON-flash!) photo that my dad will appreciate:

Wednesday's Giant's Causeway Trip

2009-04-24T08:20:00.001-04:00

hop on, hop off - day 1

2009-04-21T16:04:00.002-04:00

So today V and I did the Dublin hop on/off bus tour (a couple times - in between we got a chicken pesto panini for lunch). Like a genious - I forgot my GOOD camera and had to shoot the day with just my camerphone :(

Here's the Spire on O'Connell St:

I think this one is Christchurch:

An ivy covered building (just for the atmosphere):

I think this is St. Patrick's:
St. Pat's again:

We also spent about 3 hours at the Archaeology Museum, where (before reading the "No cellphone" and "No Photography" signs I snapped a pic oof one of the Bogmen on display:

Then for dinner we gave The Winding Stair (www.winding-stair.com) a try. It was fabulous! Great place, great staff, great food! Had a delicious lamb chop with root veggies and red wine sauce (to die for!). An excellent intro to lamb :)

Now I'm off to bed early for tomorrow's LONG day (much anticipated trip to Giant's Causeway).