I'm XENA! Weekend warrior princess! Ok.. not really. I'm more like Miss Sleepy-Pants! I've worked each day since last Monday. And I'm TAWRED! I work tomorrow all the way up to next Friday. But it's okay... the money is good (and needed!) so I'll take it. Better than those without a job and need one, right? Ok.. that was my pep up talk. Now to the gossip! SO MUCH DRAMA happened at work this past Friday! I worked in the downtown location and what a trip that was! The police came in and nabbed one old guy who was silly enough to smoke in the bathroom. It wouldn't have been so bad if it was a puff or two, but there was SMOKE coming out from under the door! DUUUH! And we were only 2 storeys up! I mean -- HELLO! He could have gone outside, dontcha think? And the other incident was really shadey. Two cops came up and asked this guy to step to the side with them and they gathered up all his stuff and cuffed him... dunno what it was... but I'm totally intrigued.
Ok.. on a personal note... I had cramps from HELL today (I know, more info than you wanted to know, but I had to preface my tale with that to give you an idea of the mood I was in). And this old guy came in who is borderline senile, and he usually brings his wife in and I work thru her. Well today, he came in and was alone... I asked "Where's your wife?" and he shrugged and told me she was working. Sooooo... I knew what was coming. I had to talk him thru purchasing online airline tickets. I always help them, I mean they're sweet and they think I'm the only one capable of helping them and that's fine. But we browsed thru Expedia and he didn't see any flight prices he wanted (in his defense, they were rather pricey -- all over 850 bucks to travel roundtrip from here to Indianapolis). So he decides he'll drive to Dallas and catch a flight from there (lots cheaper). SO we finally found the PERFECT one, chose it and I was entering his CC number into the secure server when --- BAMMO! -- the PC shuts off right in the middle. I'm like "WHAT HAPPENED????" and my cramps are really cramping and my mood is totally swinging and I look down and see he's turned off the computer. "What's this button do?" ARGH!!!!! I wanted to cry... and curl up in a little ball and take a sick day. *cry* Anyway, I booted the PC back up and finally got it done. He wanted to pay for the copy (which was 10 cents) with a twenty dollar bill and I said "Keep it... just bring me some chocolate next time you come in." ;) I'm so easy...
So that's MY day. OH OH OH!!! I did write tho! My thursdays are getting REALLY productive (the day I work a double.. thru September at least) and I have a 2 hour lunch break so I write like a maniac! I'm really pleased with the story and hopefully, once I finish this story, I'll get back to work on the other one that I'm thisclose to finishing. My crit group is giving me lots of great crits on it so far and I totally respect their opinions. I love being in a group with professionals, you really get insightful comments and honest critiques. Can't ask for more than that, right?
I'm off to write more. I'll update my counter tomorrow after I upload my NEO to the PC here. Gads, I love that little electronic miracle ;)
Yesssssssssssss... 400+ more words last nite. I'm really thrilled that the ol' creative juices are flowing again! Hopefully, I'll write even more tonite. PLUS tomorrow is my double shift day so I'm going to bring the NEO to work with me.
Speaking of work, OMG-- the A/C went out in part of the building today -- the side *I* work on of course. Stupid Murphy's Law. The temp OUTSIDE was a nice, brisk 102 degrees in the shade today and inside, the thermostat read a chilly 84. Oh.. My... GAWD! I nearly came unglued. I was SOOOO miserable. Luckily, we have a couple of fans in the back that they let us bring to the desk. That was the only saving grace.
Hmmm... I invented this really quick Chicken 'n Dumplin's meal that Bran seems to have fallen in love with, so we had that tonite. It was pretty good, if I do say so myself.
Yesterday I was soooo tired that I thought for sure I'd just pass out when I got home. But working the evening shift has a big drawback, and that is that around 9pm, I get totally wound up. Bran is winding down and I'm hanging from the ceiling fan. Weee! Anyway, about midnight or so, I was watching TV and then figured I'd go try to write. Well, my desktop is giving me fits lately. It shuts down or locks up for no reason. I obviously need a new one, this one is over 3 yrs old. But I can't afford a new one right now -- not with all the other bills hanging over my head. So, I'll put a little more duct tape on it and wrap some tinfoil around it and make sure the gums holds -- and pray. Meanwhile, I got up last nite to do some geneaology. No idea why -- other than I'd watched some fascinating stuff on the History Detectives on PBS about this gal who found out her ancestor had gone on the trail of tears because his Cherokee wife's family was on it. So he'd VOLUNTEERED to be with her. Isn't that romantic? I mean in a strange, sad, warped way. That whole trail of tears was such a tragedy. But that got me to thinking. I need to do some genealogy! Because I think on my paternal grandfather's side, we have some Native American in the bloodline... so I wanted to see.
Hmmm.. I got distracted. After all this, my computer shut down on me last nite, so I wasn't able to find anything. BUT -- here's the whole crux of the message -- I WROTE ON MY NEO!! Yes... no distractions (like online) when I use that little baby. And I find that if I can't see more than a paragraph of what I'm typing, then I don't edit it ;) YAY! Which always slowed me down before.
So... in a nutshell. I'm happy. I wrote 650 words last nite! YAHOO!! So I'm up to chapter 3 now! HAPPY DANCIN'!!
Yeah, that's right. The good ol' comfort food. I made it and I ate it. So NYAH! It was nummmmy! Now I'm full and worthless, but must... force... myself.. to ... write. Ok.. maybe in the bedroom. It's sooooo hot in here in the computer room!
So.. here's a question. After all the bruhaha and paparazzi party between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes... what the heck happened? After their movies were released it was like, BAMMO, they fell off the face of the earth! I can't even bitch about them anymore! Bummer. That was always fun to go off on a tangent about. Oh well, I suppose things will heat up again... with them or some other celebrity de jour.
And might I add, I'm totally jealous of all the people going to RWA Nationals this weekend? I am going to try to go to the Atlanta one next year. Fingers crossed. Those in my group who are going have promised to take pics on their cells and call us to keep us all updated. So we'll live vicariously thru them ;)
Okay.. off to write. Just finished watching TUCK EVERLASTING... what a cute show. :)
I worked a double today and man, am I beat. But on the upside, I had a long lunch and I brought my NEO and I was able to write nearly 1000 words today just at work. YIPPEE! After lunch, however, I was on my feet (heels... stupid, stupid me) most of the day and didn't get to do ANY writing.
On the homefront, it's RAINING -- YAY! We sure needed it. And it's very condusive to my writing. Altho, tonite, I think it'll be extremely sedating... I'm pretty positive I'll pass right out. Heh.
And what's up with UNKYMOODS.com again? Everytime they get it going good and the moods are new and happenin', they break. Bleh.
Oh well... here's a manual picture of me these days --> :)
Things are coming together so nicely now that I've cleaned out A LOT of the unnecessary stress that was hovering around me. What a relief. And I'm happy to be back writing. Yippee!
I'm off to watch a movie... LOL.. read that: PASS OUT. Hey, I updated my counter, so that's a perk, right? Riiiight. ZzZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz....
I am SOOOOO tired. So, I had a birthday (ick) on the 15th of this month. DH treated me wonderfully (as always) and I had a wonderful time -- and so did he (wink wink nudge nudge - LOL) but I digress... That was Friday. On Saturday, we drove to Beaumont to visit my 87 year old grandmother (who is going thru the "come get all this stuff marked for you so you'll have it if I die soon." moments.) So, we drove the 4.5 hrs (w/my niece in tow) and got into lots and lots of hurricane rain. Weee! Long story short, we took the niecester out to Galveston-area because the poor child hasn't been to a BEACH in her whole life. Never saw the pounding surf rushing across the sand and ebbing back out again. SO... we decided to drive an 1.5 hours out of our way on Sunday AM (with my 87 y.o. g-mother too!) so she could experience this. She liked the sand squishing between her toes *grin*... I knew she'd love it. Took loads of pics... the child is soooo easy to please and so happy. She's truly an angel. We drove past the cemetary where my brother (her dad) is buried on the way back and we put flowers on the grave -- beautiful flowers that she'd picked out special just for daddy. I cried. She cried. It was sad... but it's getting easier to deal with the pain of my brother being gone. This was the second year since he'd passed (massive heart attack age 40) and while I wouldn't quite call it "easy" to deal with the pain of losing him, I'd say it WAS getting easier to handle the overpowering lonliness and grief of not having him around. I suppose you get used to the emptiness in some way.
Anyway, I wrote a little bit on my NEO (Alphasmart) on my way down to Beaumont, but the rain and winds were kind of distracting since I was co-piloting. :) But I managed a little more at night when it was time to go to sleep. LOL. I shoulda been asleep, but I was tap-tap-tapping on my keyboard.
Well, I'm tired and sleepy and work comes too early. I'll update my counter tomorrow and catch up on all the goings on I missed this weekend later on...
It's really early and I've been up WAAAY too long, but I'm so excited because I wrote into the wee hours of the morning and that.... THAT makes me happy-happy! Chat today was great. People whose opinion I *honestly* value came and we brainstormed about each other's project. I swear, it really helps to surround yourself with positive people. I had a million things to do, but in between, I found time to crank out nearly 800 more words today/tonite/this morning -- whenever it is. LOL!
Anyway, I'm seriously looking into revamping this site. I love it. I mean DH did it and I honestly DO love all the hard work he put into it, but I was so out-of-it writing-wise, that I didn't know what I "wanted". So I let him redesign it and it's pretty but it still has my old info on there -- and the icky pic. So I guess I need to outline what I want so I can spiff it up. I tell you I'm totally PSYCHED about it. I haven't felt this good about writing in ... well, a little over 2 yrs.
I took off a few days since it's my birthday coming up. YAY! So I'll only have to work til Wednesday! YIPPEE! Happy-dancing. I think I'll take my niece to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. :)
Yee haw! I honestly think a lot of my writer's block was hanging around the wrong people. I've gotten nothing but positive karma lately and my writing is just flowing full speed ahead! I've written a whole chapter on this NEW BOOK and I'm so excited about it. I'm excited about the research AND the writing. I'd lost that with my other book.
I need to update or revamp my site. I don't know what I'm going to do with it... maybe nothing. But I want it to reflect the fact that I'm getting active once again in writing. :)
Had to work on Saturday, but am off Sunday. Chat is going to be great! The people who normally show up are so helpful and positive and inspiring that it gets me pumped up to write! YAY! What a great group of friends/writers I have.
Okay.. that's the WRITING topic. Now for the GOSSIP section.
I still can't get over the weirdness about Katie H and her Scientology "best friend" who makes her lips moves. Yikes! YOU ADORE HIM is the quote (see entry below for article link). But on the other hand, that whole TomKat thing is getting really sour to even rag on. I'm sure I haven't finished with them yet, because they're nutty enough to grab more headlines by doing something el bizarro soon I'm sure, but I'll wait until the press tips me off before I rant anymore.
Oh, watched THE HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS and thought it was AWESOME! It was beautifully filmed and the story was a tragic love story (a la Romeo and Juliet). I was in tears by the end of the movie. *cry*
Well it's FRIDAY, which means it's my official day off! Yippee Hoooo Haaa! And guess what? GUESS WHAT?! You'll never guess! Okay, I'll tell you!
Official statement, available for immediate release:
I'm WRITING again!
Yes! It's true! I'm going to blame it on bad karma. But now that most of it's cleaned out, it opened a door for me and VOILA! I'm back to writing! YIPPEE!
I've been reading the news today since it's my day off. I refuse to watch too much of it on TV. I do feel bad for everyone effected by those AWFUL, SENSELESS bombings in London. I have two online friends who are from the UK, one lives in the city of London and she's keeping us posted on all the goings-on...
Anyway, here are some interesting articles I came across today:
FIRST: Bloggers Learn Price of Telling Too MuchRead Here! FASCINATING STUFF! Tsk tsk...
SECOND: There's a rumor going around. You might have heard it at a 4th of July BBQ or family get-together. More likely you've read it on the Internet. It goes like this: "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular." "Earth is catching up with Mars [for] the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history." "On August 27th, Mars will look as large as the full moon." And finally, "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN." Those are snippets from a widely-circulated email. Only the first sentence is true. The Red Planet is about to be spectacular. The rest is a hoax. Read the full story here!
THIRD: And, um... anyone up for some Quantum teleportation? I'm serious, check it out here!
FOURTH & LAST: And Katie Holmes... sigh.. you KNEW I had to say SOMETHING about the (alleged) lovebirds. Did you happen to see her in a (really awful-looking, non-traditional) wedding dress? Here's the story and pic! Read that and tell me the poor girl doesn't sound like a Stepford Wife? Excerpt: "I'm learning to celebrate my own spirit, my own being," [Holmes] says.
During the [magazine's name] interview, the actress wouldn't part from Jessica Rodriguez, who is described as her "Scientologist chaperone." Rodriguez's role in Holmes' life remains vague, though Rodriguez says they're "just best friends" since meeting around the time Holmes met Cruise.
"You adore him," Rodriguez told Holmes when the actress was at a loss for words to describe her love.
Yeah yeah, I know. I'm a total TomKat-Basher and rightly so IMHO. BUT as I stated in my earlier post, or rant, or whatever you want to call it, I DID say that I wouldn't stop seeing Tom's movies. And dad-gummit, they're good movies. I just wish he wouldn't be so weird OFF-camera. It totally colors my thoughts about the movies he's in.
Anyhoo... I'm sure I'll feel like ranting some more about the prescription-pills/psychiatry bashing Hubbard-Lover, but right now I gotta rave about: HOLY TOLEDO! Was that a major kick in the pants to watch! I was literally on the edge of my seat thru the whole thing! DH had to run to the bathroom (silly man, drinks a biggie-sized drink and thinks he can hold it?? yeahright) and I totally wouldn't tell him what he missed (muhahahaha!) Nah.. I told him, but everything happened so fast, it didn't make a lot of sense when I explained in short snatches during the other big-bang scenes. And there are a LOT of big-bang scenes. It's fantastic! I won't ruin it, no spoilers, I promise. But it's sooooo totally worth it. And *sigh* Tom is really REALLY good in it. Just leave all the TomKat baloney at the door and I swear you'll be PLEASANTLY surprised by the movie. And plus, they gave out some really cool posters at the Tinseltown theatre we went to! I got one for me and one for my niece.
Well... nothing else to report. I'm too happy about the movie to bash TC tonite. Maybe tomorrow. :)
