Missakitti

So far 2010 sucks. ;.;

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:00:02 GMT

Just about an hour ago, I discovered my 9 year old himalayan, Miguel, dead in his favorite cat bed. I have no idea what could have happened. This morning, he seemed perfectly fine. He honestly looked so peaceful that it's hard to imagine that he didn't just curl up and die in his sleep. I know that purebred, persian type breeds are prone to heart issues, so maybe that's the explanation, I'll never know for sure. I just had him up at the clinic for a physical and a terrible shave about a month ago and everything was good.

Of course I'm home alone when this happens. Birds, other tiny exotic pets, and pets my parents just told me that they got rid of rather than saying they put them down not included, Miguel is only the second pet I've lost

I got Miguel when he was 10 weeks old and I was living with Richard, Ahjin, and Kevin in Columbia. He was my first pet that was chosen and purchased on my own, fish and hermit crabs not included. He was your typical naughty kitten, and we used to say he wasn't smart enough to understand the meaning of the water bottle, just looking up wondering why he was getting wet when he was doing something 'bad.' He ended up being a wonderful cat, though, and the favorite of most visitors to the house. He was gorgeous, friendly, laid back, and hilarious.

Goodbye my Kitten, I'll miss you. I'm so sorry that I didn't know something was wrong.

New Toy!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 15:16:58 GMT

Christmas is over and now I'm looking forward to another short work week for New Years. I'll be coming up with revisions to past resolutions in the next couple of days.

Yesterday, Nick and I went to Best Buy to spend some of our Christmas money. We had no in!tention of spending all of it, and we didn't, but we figured we could use some of it for fun stuff. The end result is that I'm posting this entry from my new, shiny Toshiba Netbook!!! We haven't signed up for the 3G network thing yet, seeing as we don't know what our roof payments are going to be and were afraid the extra monthly payments would be pushing it a little too much. Still, I'd been wanting a laptop for a long time and this tiny little thing with a 9 hour battery life and wireless internet seems like it'll be perfect. All it needs now is Microsoft Word (which it only has a trial version of) and maybe Excel and I'll be able to do pretty much everything on it that I use my desktop for. Happy! And Nick is pleased with it because he can play the games he wants me to watch and I can browse the web during the slow parts without having to leave the room. This thing will be great for conventions, too, if the art alley has access to wireless. If not, we might look into signing up for 3G later on.

Mandinga is still doing well, though it turns out that she's a bit of a counter surfer. She and Suji managed to get into the trash on Christmas Day while Nick and I were out seeing Avatar in 3D with his dad and brother. We came home to trash spread out all over the kitchen and living room. Then yesterday, she pulled JD the shiba's food down from the counter, tore into the bag, and ate over half of it. -.- We'll be working on that.

Mandinga!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:25:02 GMT

I realized not too long ago that it's been longer than usual since I've posted. We've had a lot going on around here!

Three to four days out of the week. I have Capoeira. 2 hours of extreme workout that I struggle to keep up with, but the results are continuing to make it worth it. You can't See them yet, but the numbers are changing and I'm happy about it. I'd say that I have more energy because of it, too, and for the most part I do, but I'm also usually in pain from class. I just wish I was getting better at it faster. Everyone keeps telling me that it'll come and that I'm doing well enough. The music portion of the classes is my favorite! I love the songs and playing the instruments. :)

While I have Capoeira, Nick has started taking Kung Fu classes, which he goes to on Thursdays and Sundays. He seems to really enjoy it and it gives him a chance to hang out with Brian a bit more.

On the work front, things have been stressful. It's the new employee who can't seem to see how much she irritates the other coworkers. I am constantly worried that she's going to get N in trouble, and that would suck because I love working with N. Eventually someone is going to go off on her and get written up or fired because of it. It's just ugliness all around, though hopefully it's going to get better since the manager spoke to the girl a few days ago.

Every week, Nick and I host a movie night at the house. I look forward to it each time, no matter what the movie is. I absolutely love having people come out to hang out with us. ^^

Went to see Avatar on Friday night and Loved it! Even though I still say it is a more modern, more adult Ferngully, it was very well worth it and I highly recommend it!

For almost 2 weeks straight, we had 5 dogs in our house between watching Eric's new dog for him and Mrs. G's chihuahuas coming to stay for a few days. Then we had JD the shiba stay for a week, and he's coming back for 2 weeks as of Tuesday. Luckily, JD is no trouble at all aside from having to put a baby gate at the top of the steps so the cats can have a safe area. (Not that I think he would actually hurt them, but he chases them.) Now we have a foster dog from Aussie Rescue staying with us and I'm afraid we're falling in love. She's supposed to only be here while she recovers from heartworm treatment and then find a home, but...she's fitting in so well. This is why I don't foster dogs! We've been calling her Mandinga (mah-jing-ah), which means something like "black magic" in Portuguese. If you play a trick on someone, it's all ok if you are caught and reply with, "Mandinga!" So I teased Nick, saying that a month from now when he notices that we still have this dog here and she was supposed to have gone elsewhere, my response will simply be to grin sheepishly, shrug, and say, "Mandinga?"

hehehe

fatedshadows@aol.com — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:48:50 GMT

O tidings of comfort and Miss,
Comfort and Miss.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen
from the Christmas Song Generator.

Keep on trying.

fatedshadows@aol.com — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:58:18 GMT

It's been about 4 weeks now since I started taking Capoeira and I still really like it. I still have days when I'm really sore afterward but it's nothing like it was when I first started. As of last week's Thursday weight-in at work, I was down 8 lbs since I started, so that is some real encouragement to keep it up. At the same time, I tend to feel completely ridiculous in class because obviously you can't see any changes yet, and I still suck terribly at getting the movements right. Every Wednesday I get butterflies in my stomach so bad about 6 hours prior to class that it's hard to eat or concentrate on anything, but I'm always fine by the time class starts up. I can't explain it and I can't make it stop happening! Ah well, it's only going to get better.

Today I had to call our home owners insurance to schedule a claims adjuster to come out and look at a couple of leaks in our roof. Technically, they both seem to be in the walls. One seeps water where the window sill meets the wall, and the other is in one of the wall sconces. Yikes. Here's keeping my fingers crossed that this doesn't end up being too bad or too expensive.

Finally, I will be turning ancient in just a few days. Booooooo!

And that's all I had for now. ^^

Cap-a-what-a?

fatedshadows@aol.com — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:18:20 GMT

My friends have pulled me into a new addiction. A new and very painful hobby, so far. These are the friends that Nick and I play our StaRPG with on Saturdays. 4 of them take a martial arts class called Capoeira 4 days out of the week. I've known that a couple of them were in it for years now, but was never actually interested enough to see what it was all about. Then I friended one of them on Facebook and lo and behold he had a video posted. After watching it, I found myself so intrigued that I finally conjured up the courage to go to a class this past Monday.

I hurt so much!

The class was awesome, and the instructor was very patient. Everyone there was super nice. So I went again on Wednesday only to find that my friend was actually teaching the class that night. OMG. He pushed the class much harder than the first one had! It was still a great time, even if I ended up with a sprained ankle and think I pulled something somewhere in my leg. x.x I'm already looking forward to next Monday and class, I only hope I'll be able to move well enough by then. I keep hearing that it gets easier and easier.

Here's the website if you want more info: capoeirastl.org

I'll admit that it sucks being the newbie and the only overweight one in the class. If I stick with it, though, that won't be an issue anymore! I just have to keep telling myself that.

The Halo obsession is still running strong, mostly because I love playing with my friends. Two of my coworkers play from time to time and it is always hilarious.

Honeymoon!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 21:02:05 GMT

Last week, Nick and I went on our belated Honeymoon to Disney World. It was SO much fun! We spent a day in SC visiting with my mom and sister before driving down to the parks.

On Sunday, we visited Disney Hollywood Studios where Nick was surprised and pleased to find a huge Star Wars influence. We watched the Jedi Training Academy, where they take little kids from the audience and teach them a few moves with a plastic light saber, then have them fight Darth Vader. We purchased hilarious pictures of us taken on the Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n Roller Coaster. Then we bought LOTS of stuff, particularly from a little shop called the Tattooine Trader.

On Monday, we went to the Magic Kingdom. I discovered a new love for Stitch after experiencing the Stitch's Great Escape attraction, which was easily one of the best attractions ever. We got a little bit miserably hot that day, but it was still a good time. I'm pretty sure we went on every ride except Dumbo and Winnie the Pooh. I can't believe they replaced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride with a Snow White ride. -.-

The last park we visited was Universal Studios. The weather was perfect, there was very little crowd with no wait line more than 10 minutes. We got to go on everything, including the T2-3D attraction twice. In my opinion, it was the best day of the entire trip. One of the gift shops even had Halo stuff! ^^ Infact, we went to the Florida Mall after Universal to pick up ODST and shop around.

Finally, we spent one more day visiting with my mom and sister before heading back home. I got to show my mom that her dog could learn to get along with her cousin's puppy, so that was pretty cool. Stace got me hooked on a song by The Lonely Island called I'm The Boss and had us watch Revolver and a little bit of Criminal Minds. The first I wasn't so into, the second I might try to watch a little more of.

And now we are back home. Already we've fit in some Halo ODST playing and the StaRPG. ^^

Memes are good for boredom!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:59:37 GMT

Ok, there are things I could be doing that would not allow me to be bored, but I saw this and decided to do it instead! ^^

Why aren't you with the person you were first in love with?
It was too long ago and I wasn't ready for that back then.

Has anyone told you they love you today?
Nick did, yes.

What was the last thing you bought?
New pair of work/walking shoes.

How much money did you spend today?
A lot, actually. Somewhere around $100.

Name someone that made you laugh today:
Nick and Teal

What was the last thing your lips touched?
A glass of water.

What’s the best feeling in the world?
Making someone else laugh.

Who was the last person you got into an argument with?
Nick. I generally try not to argue with anyone else. ^.~

What is bothering you right now?
Slight pain in my right shoulder.

Has anyone disappointed you recently?
In a way, yeah, but I'm sure it was completely unintentional.

Are you happy right now?
I'm a little bored at this moment, but for the most part, yes.

Last pool you were in?
Community swimming pool at Pheasant Point Apartments a couple of years ago when we still lived there.

What's something you really want right now, be honest?
New episode of Doctor Who

Are you going anywhere for this summer?
We've been to lots of conventions so far, and Disney World is coming up soon!

Is your best friend single?
Nope

Do you think age matters in relationships?
A little bit, but it can be overcome.

What do you hear right now?
Mice running on a very squeaky wheel.

Would you rather take a relationship really slow or really fast?
Somewhere in between. Too fast and you'll miss out on the little details.

Do you like meeting new people?
Yes, once I get over the fear that goes along with the idea of meeting new people.

Do you ever think "what if" about anything?
I try not to play the "what if" game. I'm not always successful.

Are you currently waiting for something?
For Nick to wake up!

What is your favorite thing to shop for?
Fun stuff at conventions.

When was the last time you slept at someone else's house?
It's been a long time! I think it was the last time I was petsitting for the Blumenfelds almost a year ago.

Are you wearing jeans right now?
Yep

I bet you miss somebody right now?
Only now that you made me think about who I might be missing. -.-

Are you one of those people who hate crying in front of others?
Absolutely.

Do you look people in the eye when you talk to them?
Yes

Does it bother you when someone lies to you?
Depends on the lie, I guess. No sense getting worked up over a lie that doesn't matter.

Do you smoke weed on a regular basis?
Never even tried it.

Do you and your boyfriend/girlfriend fight a lot?
Nope

Would you ever take someone back if they cheated on you?
I don't know. The only times I've ever been cheated on, I only found out right before the guy broke up with me. I have confidence that I'll never have to worry about that again.

Do you continue fighting in an argument even though you're wrong?
I can be stubborn, but I like to think I stop fighting as soon as I know I'm wrong.

Are you excited about anything?
YES!!! Upcoming vacation!!!

Do you think you need to take anger management classes?
Not at all. I don't get angry very often.

If you married the last person you texted, what would your last name be?
Trupiano

Were you happy when you woke up today?
I think I was. I didn't have the headache I went to bed with, and that's always good.

Who was the last person you took a picture with?
Most likely Nick

Do you find it hard to trust others?
Nah, not really.

How fast does your mind change?
Depends on the subject, but I don't think it changes too quickly on most things.

When is your next road trip?
3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!

She's a little fishy from the sea!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:39:52 GMT

I had the worst headache I think I've had in years yesterday. :( As a result, I skipped out on the StarPG. That ended up being ok, though, cuz it meant I was there when Scotty and Lo showed up to pack up the rest of Scotty's room and load it into Mike's truck. It was very sad, because it means our first roommate is really moved out, even if I'm happy for him and his fiancee having their own place. The house key was handed over to Mike, though he hasn't moved anything in yet other than two huge boxes of movies and some role playing rule books.

Mike came back after dropping stuff off for them and watched some Mr Bean and FrankenThumb with me while we waited for Nick to get back from the StarPG. Once Nick arrived, we went to Steak 'n Shake for dinner and let Ruby out up at the clinic.

Ruby. Ugh. She's a really pretty, super sweet lab/weim mix, but she's SO hyper and has very little in the way of manners. She can't stand to be away from people, so she cries constantly when kenneled. She has to be kenneled when not 100 percent supervised because she gets into everything and she isn't completely house broken. The kennel, in this case, ended up being our downstairs bathroom and a baby gate, because I was afraid she'd hurt her paws on the large crate I have because she was digging so hard at it. Long story short, keeping her here has been a disaster, so I'll settle for having her here for excersize and playtime, but when it comes to us having to leave the house or sleep, she's got to be at the clinic in an actual kennel where she can't hurt herself or my house.

Today has been a very nice day! It started with waking up to breakfast with Nick and getting ready to see Ponyo, the new Miyazaki movie that Disney just released. I'm sure I'd like it better in Japanese, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality voice acting in this one. The movie moved a little slow, I think even for Miyazaki, but it was super cute and I recommend it if you have liked his other movies.

Next was lunch with Lo, Scotty, and Joel, who had all gone to see the movie with us. Yay for food courts and amusing conversation!

After lunch, Nick and I walked around the mall for about 20 minutes before heading home. I started some laundry and am now relaxing at my computer with one chihuahua at my feet and the other in my lap. I think in a little bit we'll be heading to Borders to read (or in Nick's case, draw) and then to walk Ruby before we call it a day.

Pretty in Pink

fatedshadows@aol.com — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:23:34 GMT

Yesterday, I took Pita Chip in to work with me to have her groomed next door. About 3 hours after I'd dropped her off, Candy, the younger groomer who I have recently come to really like, came back with her saying,"Ok, here's you're puppy!" She held out the freshly bathed and brushed Pita who was now sporting two bright pink bows in her hair. The best part? The hair being held in the bows was also pink! I love it! And before you give me those crazy looks, having a chihuahua MAKES you into one of those people! lol

I survived last week!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:04:51 GMT

Last week was crazy at work. we had 3 doctors for 3 days out of the week, so I had to work a lot more hours than usual so the extra doctor would have a technician. Plus, we had the shiba inu J.D. staying at the house for the last 2 weeks. I couldn't have been happier for the weekend to arrive! Not that we did much with it, but that was actually perfect.

Saturday night was the Starpg shortly after I got off work. We left the starpg a little early to let out the dogs and stayed up until about 1:30am.

Sunday, we went to Red Lobster for lunch, walked for 20 mins around the mall, read in Borders, played Halo with our squad mates, and then had Mike over to watch The Watchmen. Nick and I hadn't seen it before. I don't know what his opinion on the movie was, but I thought it was OK.

Today has been very productive! Went to Kitaro for their lunch sushi buffet..mmmm. After that, we went out to Best Buy to pick up a new rechargeable battery for one of the xbox controllers. Then Nick mowed the lawn while I attacked the garden area and spent well over an hour pulling weeds and speariment. Once we got inside, he used the new dustbuster to clean the stairs while I vacuumed and swiffered the entire downstairs. Now we're getting ready to pick up something for dinner before he takes his nap. Yay weekends! ^^

Natsucon and the resulting Inspiration of Doom!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 03:40:07 GMT

Natsucon was this past weekend and it was quite profitable! We did almost 3 times better selling Nick's art there than we did at ACen, despite the fact that Natsucon only had 500 max people vs the 12,000 at ACen. It has proven once and for all that smaller cons are better for sales. I was also able to get some plushies that I no longer wanted to the Lan to sell at his Dealer's table. They all sold by the end of the day. It was amusing that every time I saw Lan on Saturday, he gave me money.

Saturday was made even more awesome by the fact that Kel, Shawn, Mike, Vicky, and Brian all came to the con!!! Vicky even won 3rd place in the Masquarade! YAY, go Vicky!!! ^^

And now for the Inspiration of Doom!

I decided that I wanted to make clay critters to sell at our next art table! I have always seen them, and have even purchased a couple of them at prior cons. Now it's my turn! I still have to paint the first three that I made tonight, but once that's done, I'll post pictures.

I have one other project that I'm working on, but can't talk about it just yet. Pictures will come along, most likely! -grin-

Ooooh, and there is an awesome Japanese restaurant on Hwy K that has a lunch buffet Mon-Fri. SUSHI!!!! For crazy cheap!!! -glee-

A New Challenge!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:15:48 GMT

So, I've already been doing the Biggest Loser challenge with two of my coworkers. Myself and one other aren't doing so great. It's time to step it up! Scotty adoogen has given me the inspiration to do so. He asked the hypothetical question, "Can you go a month without eating fast food?" I say, let's take that question and make it into a Challenge!

GO A MONTH WITHOUT EATING FAST FOOD! All it can do is help.

Now the question becomes what counts as fast food? Certainly McD's, Burger King, Sonic, that sort of place. But places like Kaldis where the food is made fresh with whole ingredients wouldn't count as fast food. Sit down restaurants are still going to be a healthier option than fast food, even if the portions are far more than we need, so the challenge there is to order off the fitter menus or cut it in half. Maybe order the salad instead of whatever else would normally be ordered. And as far as pizza goes, there are better options out there, too! Make your own pizza, or try Papa Murphy's, where it's made fresh and frozen daily.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Questions? Please comment! Let me know if you are interested in taking on the challenge and we can help to support and encourage each other! ^^ (And as Dr. B and I realized, encouragment does not count as offering the other person half a bag of chips because then you aren't eating them and if the other person eats them as well, they won't have been any better than you!)

More colorful text idea also brought to you by Scotty.

My legs....

fatedshadows@aol.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:11:10 GMT

Active for the Wii is kicking my butt! And I've only had it open for 2 days! I'm going to be hurting so bad tomorrow. At least it's the good kind of pain that means I am doing something, right? Owwww.

DrW's dogs are all here now. They are doing well and get along just fine with our own.

The shrew nipped at me yesterday while I was cleaning its cage. He was chasing the paper towel around, then he was just sort of chilling out under my hand. When he sniffed at me, he suddenly made his angry chirp and nipped, but didn't break skin where he certainly could have if he wanted to. I'm starting to think I really might let it go. Though it does stir and poke it's head out when I open the cage to feed it, and it truly does seem happy enough. I dunno...

My goal tomorrow is to be productive in the morning. Start with getting dogs fed and let out, working out, and then eating brunch with Nick. Then clean up around the house for company and movie watching that we are planning for Thursday. After that, it'll be time to get to work.

Now I have to hobble up the stairs to get some sleep.

The Dogs are Coming!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:07:33 GMT

This week is going to be a little stressful! DrW's 3 dogs are coming tomorrow to stay for a week(2 chihuahuas and a papillon) and MrsK's dachshund and her daughter's basset hound are coming for the holiday weekend. Just gotta keep thinking of the money.

I spent a lot of time working on backstory for my next StaRPG characters. I have over a page written for the Mandalorian and only a few basic ideas for the Imperialist. Something tells me that I'm going to prefer the Mando character, which is bad, since she'll only be played every other game. It's amazing how much I can get into writing once I throw myself into it.

Today was pretty awesome. Nick and I slept in a little before we had to drop the car off at the shop to have the tree limb damage taken care of. Then we went to Bob Evans for delicious breakfast, followed by a trip to Target to shop around and pick up a few things.

When we got home, I decided to try out Active for the Wii. My coworker had convinced me that it was completely awesome and really works. OMG. That is SO painful! I can definitely see that it will work if I keep up with it!

Next I did some research into StaRPG classes and coming up with a story before we left to get Subway. Now I think I'll clean some cages, start some laundry, then go for a walk.

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:41:53 GMT

This weekend has seemed to fly by, which is sad, because Saturday seemed to go so slowly that I was hopeful it would seem like a very loooong weekend.

Saturday was fun. Lo called while Nick and I were eating lunch to let me know that Scott had proposed. I already knew that was happening, so I was super excited to see her name on my caller ID. The only sad thing about it all is that it means that Scotty's moving out soon. Boo! But I'm still really happy for them both! Love you guys and congrats!!

Pita's litter mate Rhianna has been staying with us for a little while to work on her social skills, so there's been a lot of chihuahua play to be watched.

Yesterday was interesting. Started out with sleeping much later than intended, which lead to being a little rushed to get things done for Heather's baby's baptism. Nick and I both got some new clothes at Kohls and hurried back home to get ready. The baptism went well, with little Shawn being pretty content for a hungry, tired baby. It was followed by a reception at Heather's mom's house. Good food and company that I hadn't seen in a long time, so it was nice even if Nick and I were in a bit of a hurry to leave.

Been playing Halo 3 with the old team again. I was sucked slightly less last night than the time before, but I'm still far from being back to where I was, which was never very good to begin with.

And now to leave you with some cuteness!
Boga and Brashen playing:

Suji, Bug, Rhianna, and Pita Chip all want in the lap:

Ramblings

fatedshadows@aol.com — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 02:22:58 GMT

Wow, it's been a while since I posted! I am good about reading other people's stuff almost every day, but apparently don't bother to post myself. There's really no excuse, either, because I've been in the mood to write lately, but not in the mood to write anything particular. Which reminds me, it's been a very long time since I tried to get caught up on other people's writing, and I feel really bad about that. There's something to tack on to my mental To Do list!

Lately, we've had more gatherings than normal at Fort Awesome. I watched The Hunt twice in one week because we were showing it to other people! I still Love that movie. <3 I'm seriously considering making ringtones out of some of the quotes for my cell phone. Bwahaha. Scott, that's your warning. If it happens, every time you call my cell phone I'll hear,"You don't give away the ITEM!"

Sunday night, we went with Scott and Lo to the City Museum. That was all kinds of painful, but it was a good time. I only ended up with one scraped elbow! Next time, I want to conquer climbing the stuff outside. I'm hoping the outdoors stuff won't be quite as difficult as some of the areas in the caves. I don't squish quite that much yet! I think it would probably be best to go on a Fri or Sat night to use the flashlights.

Finally finished with the Twilight series. My overall impression is that it was OK reading, and definitely something for girls, not so much for guys. The first book was so much better than any of the other 3, and the main character never really stopped being mildly irritating. Now that I've finished with those books, I can move on to other stuff! I have a small stack of books borrowed from Scott; The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Speak, and The Book Thief. I'll probably read them in that order. I dunno...might have to throw some high fantasy in the mix before I start going through withdrawal. Vamps and Werewolves don't make up for magic and evil wizard types. ^^;

I bought a catnip plant yesterday! Scott's recent interest in his basil plants has me thinking that the house is definitely lacking in plants. At least catnip won't hurt the cats if they destroy it. Next will be a rubber tree plant if I can find a small enough one for cheap.

I've just gotten over being somewhat sickish, so I'm starting to get back into the routine of working out every day. I need to stick with it! I can't let Michele or Dr. B get ahead of me!

And that's all I've got for now.

Murffff

fatedshadows@aol.com — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:58:04 GMT

My coworkers and I had our weigh-in this morning. I was down, so at least I'm back on track with that. There are two more excersize games for the Wii Balance Board that I want to look into getting.

Started watching Casanova a couple of days ago and like it enough to have asked Nick about ordering it off of Amazon. Since he is wonderful, he did, so I'll get to watch it in much better quality than over the internet in 10 minute chunks. Next up - a move titled Secret Smile. Nick, you shouldn't have brought that to my attention! ^^;

This afternoon we had two euthanasias. One was a 20 year old cat by the name of Alley. She was hyperthyroid but well controlled and had been doing amazingly well, given her age. She'd had some trouble a month ago with weakness in the back legs and had a few days where she couldn't walk well but seemed to have recovered. Randomly this morning, she fell over and suddenly couldn't even get up. The owners brought her in only for us to discover a very badly broken back leg. It was very sad. Something about a senior man trying so hard not to cry over a calico cat will just break your heart.

The next was my friend Kathryn's older collie mix, Princess. That one sucked. I went over to Petropolis to buy a cup of doggie icecream for her before we sedated her.

There are days when I love my job and days when I wish I did something completely different. Though it does make me glad that I could be there for the pets and their owners in such a difficult time. I used to tear up for every animal that we put down, but I haven't for nearly 4 years now. Not one, except of course for my own Binky. It's not that I don't feel sad, but the tears won't come. It's been that way since I returned home from my dad's memorial service. I'm not sure if his passing just put it in perspective or if it was just a coincidence, and the procedure was something I'd eventually get desensitized to. I hate to think that I've grown a little colder.

New Addiction and Lack of Sleep

fatedshadows@aol.com — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:14:32 GMT

Two days ago, I started watching a miniseries from 2004 called Blackpool. It stars Morrisey and Tennant, and it's about a man who wants to get rich by building a casino hotel in Blackpool. Things start falling apart for him the very night he opens his casino that is supposed to earn him the money for the hotel. First episode is a little slow and I really doubted I was going to get into it. Once things really got rolling, it got a lot better. I mean, c'mon, Morrisey and Tennant dance the Tango to These Boots are Made for Walking! lol I just finished ep 3 about an hour ago and am hooked. etcetera_cat, I am counting on you to have seen this so I can babble to someone who knows what I'm talking about once I've finished watching!

I haven't slept well the last couple of days, thus be still being up at 12:30 am posting rather than actually sleeping. I was actually mostly awake until well after 3 am last night and can't figure out why. Hopefully this will work itself out soon enough.

The Biggest Loser competition is still going on. I've been working out almost every day and eating so much more mindfully than ever, but I'm getting frustrated with the terribly slow results. The only good news is that the other two are having just as slow a go of it as I am, so no one can really claim to be in the lead.

Alright, time to try for sleep again.

Awesomeness and Lens Flare

fatedshadows@aol.com — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:21:43 GMT

Saw the new Star Trek movie this morning! More on that later. ^^ And, Nick and I might be going to Disney World in as little as 3.5 months!!!

Yesterday, Nick and I went out to Old Town St. Charles to eat outside at Magpies and wander around a little. It had been way too long since last time and I always enjoy it.

After that, we went to get frames at Walmart to frame the professional pictures the group had taken at ACen. We also stopped in at Fashion Bug because Michele had told me that clothes there were cute and reasonably priced. Nick ended up demanding that I buy the skirt and one of the shirts I tried on. <3

Last night, I started trying to plan out our belated honeymoon trip to Orlando. So far, things look like they are going to work out, it's just a matter of finding out what Nick's time off is going to allow. I'm getting so excited that I'm pretty sure I'll be devastated if we have to push this off another year. With any luck, the next two conventions we have coming up before the trip will pay for it.

And Star Trek! I think almost everyone I know that had already seen it said they loved it, aside from Mike, who said he hated it and hated the producer, and would never ever consider it cannon. Personally, I enjoyed it. It's fast paced, well acted, and definitely kept my attention. There was a lot that can be poked fun at for not making any sense at all, but what sci fi movie doesn't have that sort of thing? And I can see why hardcore Star Trek fans would be fuming. I mean, c'mon, they've changed things enough to pretty much obliterate the old series. The good thing is that there can be a new, rebooted Lens Flare-tastic Star Trek series to come if they so choose. So, I like being in a position where I'm just as happy to rave about the movie as to tear it apart, and that I can still like it even when the flaws are pointed out. Yay!

ACEN!!!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 12 May 2009 01:03:45 GMT

Nick and I returned home at 1 am this morning from a fun-filled weekend in Chicago for Anime Central. We drove with Mike and shared a room with him, Vicky, Brian, Kelly, and Stacy M. All of us except Kelly were cosplaying as characters from RE4, and all of us had really put a lot of time and money into our costumes. Thanks much to Vicky for making mine work out! ^^

I think this con might have been the most fun we've attended in a while, not that they aren't all fun. It all had to do with sharing a room and hanging out with friends. I posed for SO many pictures (mostly because Brian and Vicky looked AWESOME and I just happened to be around them. ^.~) We all got to go out for Chicago style pizza and the next night, Mike joined Nick and I for hot miso ramen at Mitsuwa.

It's weird to be back home and away from everyone again. I miss them already! lol

As far as sales went, this might have been the worst con since Nick started selling artwork. The Artist Alley was just so HUGE! I think it was sensory overload, and after a while you could tell that people just weren't paying attention to what they were seeing anymore. Strange that a tiny local con could have done So much better than the biggest one we go to, but it makes a weird sort of sense. We still managed a small profit.

Ok, and here are some pictures for those who might not get to see them on Facebook:

Locks of <3

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:25:39 GMT

So...for the first time since I was probably 4 years old, my hair is actually short. It just barely grazes my shoulders but is *just* long enough that it can still be put in a pony tail. It was time for a change, and the fact that I'll be cosplaying as Ashley in 2 weeks was the last inspiration I needed to make the chop. I donated the hair to Locks of Love, and the bonus was that I didn't have to pay for the haircut! I hadn't known beforehand, so that made for a nice surprise. Maybe I'll post a picture later.

I've been really good about doing some Wii Fit excersize and walking 20 minutes every day. Yay! I might wait another day or two before I see if I've made any progress. Thursdays will be weigh in days at work for the competition.

Yesterday, Nick and I went grocery shopping at 4 different places to get all of the things we might want to make sure we eat healthier and at home. First was the Olive Farmer's Market for Sushi Vinegar and a couple of other Asian dressings. Next was Trader Joe's, since we hadn't been there in over a year and wanted to see what we'd been missing out on. Neither of us can really remember why we stopped shopping there! Then we went to Costco, followed by Shop'n Save. For dinner, Nick and I made curry marinated chicken breast, rice, veggies, and buttered toast. It was so good!

And here's a picture of a small part of my backyard that I took yesterday:

ACEN SOON!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:18:32 GMT

Acen is coming up in just a couple of weeks! That means very little time to work on making myself not look completely rediculous in an Ashley cosplay. Getting a skirt that would fit was...amusing, to say the least.

Michele, Dr. B, and I are going to work together on our own little Biggest Loser competition at work. It'll be based on percentage lost, and it will go until Aug 6. We will weigh in every Thursday and at the end, the winner will get 60 dollars from a cash pool. We aren't really letting other coworkers in on this because the rest of them are skinny little things, and the three of us are all right about the same as far as build and weight. I'm really excited about this! I hope it helps to keep me motivated. (As if that miniskirt I have to wear wasn't enough...erg.)

Work has been insanely busy, and almost every day is followed by playing Halo 3 with an awesome team of friends. <3 That's my excuse for not posting very often. ^^;

Brashen may or may not have eaten Moss, the grey mouse. I'm holding on to hope that she's just missing in the house somewhere, but it's unlikely. u.u

I don't think anything else has been going on, so that'll end this post.

Yarrrrgh!

fatedshadows@aol.com — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:07:45 GMT

Today sucked a lot, up until I got home, anyway. Work was so busy and people were stressed. I don't mind busy so long as appointments and such are flowing well. It's once you lose the work flow that things get hectic, and today was the epitome of hectic. No one was to blame, it was all in the untimely arrivals of clients and phone calls, mostly. Nick was good enough to pick up Subway before I got home so not only did I not have to cook, I didn't have to take time to stop and pick up food, either. ^^ <3

On Sunday, wee had sewage backing up in the downstairs bathtub and had to call out a plumber who was none too happy about being out on his day off. Things got fixed, though, and I spent some time bleaching the tub. I was sad that we hadn't gotten to do the things we wanted to do that day, due to finding the mess while getting ready to leave to see Watchmen. Turned out ok in the end, though, when we got to play Halo 3 with a lot of our awesome friends. ^^

Just two more work days until Anime St. Louis!!!! While I still feel like I need a vacation, and don't feel that a local con really counts, since I'll be working at our table, I'm still going to be grateful for the days off. There's still quite a bit to do before the con comes up, too. Unfortunately, most of it falls on Nick.

Watched all of Season 1 of Doctor Who!!! Only to realize that we missed The Christmas Invasion between seasons 1 and 2. (For those of you who missed it, we sort of watched the whole thing backwards.) Scott found it for us tonight, so we'll watch it in the morning. Then I'll have no more Who to watch until the latest season becomes available. -le sigh- Oh, don't think I mentioned that our new TV's name is actually The Doctor. -glee!-

The weekend is already almost over?

fatedshadows@aol.com — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:44:58 GMT

This weekend was very full! Saturday night, we had a few people over for SF4, RE5, and Blokus. It was a lot of fun! We didn't end up sleeping til after 3:30. Sunday we didn't wake up until about 1:30, then we went out to run some errands and get lunch. After that, we spent about an hour doing yard work. I hope I didn't destroy the rose bushes, but they needed trimming very badly.

We took the dogs to the park and Pita decided to take off after two 50 lb ridgeback mixes. It was hilarious! Here were these two big dogs taking turns chasing and being chased by the 4 lb chihuahua. ^^

After all that, we ended the day by watching the last episode of season 2 of Doctor Who. I cried a lot! I didn't think I'd like Rose, but Billie Piper and David Tennant worked so well on screen that it was impossible not to love the characters together. Mike lent us Season 1 so we just started it. Talk about watching a series backwards!

Nick and I got our hair done today! Mine is all highlighted in the front and his is now sort of a Leon-esque cut. <3 It looks really good!

And here's a picture of the dogs in the back seat on the way home from the park yesterday:

And a quiz!

You Are An INFP

The Idealist

You are a creative person with a great imagination. You enjoy living in your own inner world.
Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.
It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close to you.
But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop.

In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards.
You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings.

At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values.
You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?