(no subject)
And here's the rest of it!
May 4 at 9:11pm
Scrooge having craptastic wireless connections that eat captions and make me do everything 2-5 times and takes 4 times as long to do it every time I do it. Bah. Will find somewhere with free wi-fi tomorrow, until then, no updates from me >_>
May 5 at 12:57am via Mobile Web
Mmmm fancy beer and cider. With impressively cheap beer to fill in the cracks ^_~
May 5 at 3:20am via Mobile Web
Aqua, I adore you. And you have a NEW cd coming out this year? Fucking YES. And it's GOOD, while being totally different from their old stuff.
May 5 at 4:17am via Mobile Web
Withdrawl is a hellacious bitch. Just sayin.
Comment from Charles: What are you withdrawing from?
Me: happy pretzels.
May 5 at 3:31pm
Ok! So onto the next batch of updatey goodness. Firstly, I would like to point out that every day here feels like 2 days. This is not a bad thing at all ;) Mostly it's because I've been gettin up decently early and whittling the first half of the day, which in my general daily routine is how the day ends, so I feel like it's over with that.
And then Zoey gets home from work and the day starts all over, but really it's only like...2-5 PM at that point. It's kinda nice! Haha, make me feel like I'm days behind on updating though, even though it's actually only one really full day usually XD
So. I have no reliable internet right now, and so once again am writing this update up in WordPad in the hopes of getting 30 seconds of internet at some point so I can post it really quick. Also my phone is dead and I don't quite remember which bag I put the charger in, so the small updates I was putting up through facebook mobile are temporarily out of service too >_>
Somehow I've managed to put up all the pictures from LA and Portland, and even got them organized into chronological order (they get mixed up because I upload them from multiple cameras/cellphones/whatever I take pictures with), but it's only allowed me time to put up like... 3 captions so far. Which sucks because now everybody's gonna look at the pictures and not know what they are :( Big frown. D= Oh well, maybe I can caption them on Zoey's computer before I put this update up. And I also just put together a list of people who want e-mail summary updates from me, which I can just forward when I send them to my mom anyway, but I haven't had time to get to my e-mail to do it XD And the e-mail addresses are all in my text inbox, sooo... XD
Anywho~! Tuesday was muchly fun. Hung around the apartment for a bit in the morning, then walked with Veles at 2 to go meet Zoey for lunch on her break at the mall she works in. We went to a mediocre sub and fries place, but they were decently affordable and I got lunch for today out of it too. Then I fell in love with a necklace while we were in Icing bothering her at work for a bit before we walked home, and also discovered they still had the headband that I loved forever and wore all the time until it broke into pieces in my purse. So. FML, but I couldn't leave the store until they were mine. And wound up buying the matching bracelet and earrings to keep Zoey and her friends' sales averages where they should be. Trixy little sales girl and her crazy antics! But I guess not wanting to bring your friends' sales averages down kinda goes with overtipping because I know how it goes, soooo... whatever! And the bracelet and earring are crazy cute too, so I really can't complain too much, as long as I don't spend all my gas money ;)
Went home and spent some more time struggling with facebook on the weak-signalled unprotected connections around here that constantly cut out and refuse you acess. Managed to organize the LA pics finally, and then it ate all my captions. Twice. And right about when I was frustrated enough to want to stab the computer and/or myself, Zoey came home! XD Yay. Paid my rent online finally, printed out the employment papers from Utah so I can sign them (which I need to do today and scan them so I can e-mail them back... bah!), and read through them all before we cleaned stuff out of my car so I could fit Zoey and Veles in it to go to the bank and grocery shopping. Worked out anyway, because we brought all my clothes in, and once I do laundry I'll need to repack all of it... Conveniently, there's a non-coin-operated washer and dryer in the apartment here, although they're a little rough and noisy ;)
Stopped by a couple different places. Bank, Tops where we didn't actually wind up getting anything, Trader Joe's where we snagged $30 in cider and the cheapest beer I've ever seen (which I actually like? impressive for $3 a 6-pack), along with a bottle of fancy lager for the hell of it =P Went to the grocery outlet and stocked up on toothpaste and soap and such for Utah, because I might as well get it where it's cheap. Went home, had some spaghetti-type goodness with random sorts of noodles, and had a few drinks with the best people possible, just sitting around and talking and playing different sorts of music for a few hours. Soooo much fun. And we made the cat dance. And he just doesn't care. Didn't even run away and hide afterwards, just loved the attention. Forbis I ♥ you.
4 beers and barely buzzed. Damn. 2 in I was almost a little tipsy, and then I ate, and it was all over. Damn XD Can I go back to being a lightweight now? I've only had one beer this whole trip, it's not like I'm immune from overuse, geeeez. But oh well. I digress. Such is life XD Next time we'll just have to start earlier so we're not all ready for bed by the 4th drink. And so we have time to nurse each one, because chugging cider is just unnatural. Oh yeah, we're some crazy youngins. 21 and gettin' old already XD
Woke up the first time around 8 with Zoey's alarm, and dozed back off and on for another half hour, but thought I'd woken up at least 8 times within that half hour, only to realize I was dreaming XD Like I would wake up and listen to the other two waking up and getting up and moving around me, but go back to sleep each time even though I hate being the last one up, and one time I was sitting at a table in the living room (that doesn't actually exist) eating cookies for breakfast while Z made coffee and grabbed herself something to eat, and grumbling about not wanting to be awake... and then it was like 11:30 and I was finally dragging out of bed/off the couch and walking around talking to Zoey and Veles while Zoey played the new Aqua CD over and over (which isn't actually out yet...) and I felt kinda bad for sleeping so much longer than everyone else and Zoey was giving me the "It's about damn time you got up." look, and then I woke up again under the covers, and was thinking "DAMNIT, did I give in and go back to sleep? I don't remember even going back to the couch... Bet they've given up on me at this point...." and I think that's the point at which I actually started to wake up, and Zoey walked by and really did offer me coffee. I asked her what time it was and it was only 8:30, thank god. And then I asked if I'd actually woken up several times and talked to her, but she said although she had walked by a couple times and seen my eyes open, I hadn't actually got up and been vocal yet. Which means that, as I suspected, -some- of the stuff that filtered into my half-concious stuff was real, and Zoey had been making coffee and was playing music, although not Aqua, but Veles was still also just getting up, and nobody had eaten yet and I hadn't actually missed anything at all, really. So fascinatingly fun to discect what was fiction and what was reality because they were so intertwined this morning. Considered going back to sleep after she went to work, but after feeling so bad for sleeping so much later than everyone else in the dream, I decided strictly against it, and right about then the coffee and chocolate frosted flakes I was eating starting to kick in and wake me up, and so the day had finally begun!
Hopped on the laptop and managed to get the rest of the current pictures uploaded and in the right order, then got frustrated trying to caption them and continuously getting disconnected, and so have typed this up. Aaaaand caught up again! Woo!
And someone just knocked on the door and then walked away because they realized it was the wrong door. XD
And now to post this before my temp connection dies again! Huzzah!
May 5 at 8:00pm via Mobile Web
vaguely wonders if the reason she doesn't actually have a best friend these days is because she doesn't let people get close enough, or doesn't put enough effort in, or something. I mean, it can't all just be that I don't really click with anyone anymore, can it?
Comment from Charles: To really have a best friend, you need to click but you also need a lot of interaction. Maybe your issue is you spend a little time with lot's of people and not lots of time with one person? There are lot's of people that I could probably be a best friend with but we are all separated by taking different path's in life and great distance. Eventually, you'll find someone to take that mantel.
May 7 at 2:04am
So Wednesday was good! Zoey got off work and we went downtown to this place called Big Tom's that's supposed to be the best burger place in the state, or second best, or something. The burgers were good! Really, really good, actually. Still fast food, but beats the hell out of all the big chains. Cash only though dears, cash only.
After that we went to the biggest comic book store on the west coast, which is fantastic. Now mind you, not the biggest manga or book store, the biggest COMIC book store. They do have manga though, and almost all of it was crazy on sale. Like... 70% off the average price. So I bought 3 for $10, all 3 of which were things I already have some of the volumes of. Talked to the lady who owns it for a while. She was nice! But they didn't have the new issue of the comic Z and Veles were looking for, so she called another, much smaller store downtown, and they had it! So we stopped by that one, and they had a tiny $1 rack of manga (with like 5 manga on it) and one of them was the 4th volume of Alice 19th, which is either the only one I've been missing forever, or I just bought a double, but for $1 I can gamble on it. Libby, when you read this, do you know which one I'm missing?
After that we came back to the apartment, I sat down and just knew I was about to be very anti-social, so I told Zoey to go ahead and start the movie without me, especially since it was Iron Man, which I've seen before, so it wouldn't hurt to cut in a little late. So I sat down on the couch and texted some of the more prevalent people in my life, because I just needed to talk to some of them and prove to myself I wasn't losing them forever and can actually hang on to a few of the people I love, and that I do indeed have people that care about me. Sometimes life is just too cold when you're going it alone, and I was in desperate need of an emotional blanket. And so of course Bobby, being Bobby, called me immediately and almost made me cry because it caught me so off guard, and after like 15/20 minutes of much needed conversation, he let slip that he was standing outside of IHOP ignoring a large group of people to talk to me, at which point I immediately told him to hang up and call back when he wasn't out with friends XD Spent the next 2 hours or so speed-texting a couple different people back and forth, with half a dozen other just-to-say-I-miss-you-guys texts thrown into the mix here and there. Charles and Bobby, thank you for dealing with my ranting and raving and general distraught state of mind for over 2 hours. Dear sirs, I commend you both. Seriously.
So by the end of all that I was all little worn out and just wanted to relax and let things settle and fall as they may in my mind, so I grabbed the last of the popcorn, popped the cap off a cider, and wriggled my way into the extra bit of blanket at the end of Zoey and Veles's bed to watch the rest of the movie with them. It was a cute movie, as always, and when it was over we were all ready to crash. So off to the couch I went, for a dreamless, restful sleep once I finally fell into it, and that was that.
Got up this morning on the earlier side and drove Z to her interview for this awesomely fantastic job that she totally deserves, and which she will definitely get because she's fabulous. Dropped her off and took my laptop to kill time at the library a couple of bloks down, and maybe finally finish captioning those pictures I've been getting to 3-15 at a time once or twice a day before the ridiculously weak connection dies on me and won't let me back on... but no dice. Library didn't open for another hour, at 11. So I asked the skater kid who was waiting at the door for it to open (I guess?) if there was anywhere else nearby with wi-fi, who said there was a McDonalds pretty close if you walk that way and uhh... just keep walkin that way. So I drove that way for a few lights and huzzah! Mickey D's. Ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle with Canadian bacon instead of sausage because I'd nvere had one and it looked good (and it WAS good), set up in the corner with the wall plug, turned my laptop on and.... broken wi-fi. Saaaaadfaaaaace. Called the troubleshooting number on the paper they give out, shocked the guy who thought I was a manager by telling him I was a customer and got the store number off a receipt like his very own troubleshooting record had told me to do 10 seconds prior to him picking up, and he said he'd get it fixed!....But then Z called and I asked the chick he'd just connected me to to hold while just long enough for me to tell her where I was, but somewhere in the process of getting back to the first line the call got ended, and Zoey's interview was over, so I said screw it, packed up, and went to go meet her. Got out to the car and saw she'd already made it almost to the McDonald's parking lot, so I didn't even have to go get her XD
Back at the apartment, vegged for a while, Veles got up and went to school, Zoey and I exchanged a bunch of the music on our hard drives, which took a good long while, and then Veles got home and we had ramen. Zoey decided she's whip us up some authentic Mexican hot chocolate (the kind made with, ya know, chocolate instead of powder, with cinnamon and sugar already in the chocolate) and we ventured out to the liquor store for some coffee liqueur to cinch the taste, and stopped by Trader Joe's on the way back to restock on the $3 6-packs of Red Oval for tomorrow night while we were out, because none of us has to wake up early Saturday morning =P Trader Joe's has beautiful flowers and I got a new cell phone background out of it. I swear to god it's the prettiest thing ever. Can't wait to show it to you guys. Although that requires, ya know, more internets XD Takes 20 minutes these days just to copy and past these updates from where I pre-type them up in WordPad to a status update. Yargh.
Anyways. Got back home and had the most deliciously creamy hot chocolate ever, which made me think a lot of the movie Chocolat and Z and I wound up discussing how chili pepper in hot chocolate really is the most amazing thing ever, although I still haven't had the chance to try it that way. Will make a note to do that soon.
Tonight we're going to watch a sci-fi movie called Sunshine that's supposed to be really good and none of us has seen yet. Can't wait. And Veles is making pizza! Which is homemade and delicious. Mmmmmm.
Talk to you lovelies soon! And because it's come up recently, I just want to vehemently point out to you all, that just because I'm on an adventure doesn't mean you can't call me when you're having a bad day! I'm not a fair-weather friend, and I have a cell phone that I pay bills on every month for a reason ;) So if any of you ever need me, for any reason, call. ♥
And for tonight, sweet dreams full of happy things and the freedom of wings to you all! ♥
Good night, keep warm, I love you.
May 7 at 8:28am via Mobile Web
Ohhhh my god. The relief that that was a dream is so profound right now that I don't even know whatto do with myself. That was so intensely heartbreaking that I can't think straight, and I woke up all shakey because I was about to start crying. Now to get up and walk around and get water and try to convince myself that never happened. And hopefully I can get some more sleep. Kind of afraid to :/
May 7 at 10:24pm
Went to Seattle today to see Norah! Haven't see her since the YFU trip to japan back in '05. Wow. Talk about long time no see.
Started the day off a half hour late, then took one wrong turn getting off the freeway and was suddenly stuck going across the bridge to the other side of Seattle with no way to turn around until I got to to the other side, and my GPS decided it hated me after that, got me theoretically to Norah's place, but the road ended in a bunch of do not enter signs a block from where her street number should've been. So we tried searching for an address on the cross street from where she lives, and it took me much further away XD Eventually my GPS got so tired of sending me down the wrong roads and one time almost making me hit an SUV that it just decided to be in a constant state of recalculation. So after one more attempt that put me on some freeway going god knows what direction, I just decided to get off at whatever the next exit was and Norah came to find me instead XD It worked out though, turned into a random auto-shop looking parking lot to wait for her to find me and catch up on organizing my milage logs, and then realized there was not only a Starbucks there but a bunch of restaurants too, and so it was that we wound up eating at an entirely randomly found Vietnamese restaurant with awkward slushy bubble tea. It was good though!
And the conversation was great, lots of quirky coincidences. Isn't it funny how small the world always turns out to be? Packed leftover lunch for dinner or lunch tomorrow, and headed home, which took 2 hours instead of 1 because of early traffic. Lame.
Was at the apartment just long enough to toss my food in the fridge and reply to a couple of texts, then figured I'd go find someplace with free wi-fi so I could finally get the rest of the friggin pictures captioned. Which I have! Go check 'em out. Do it XD I wound up driving Zoey to work and coming to this lovely Borders here, getting sucks into buying a couple bargain books, and took over the table with the wall plug at the cafe. Lots of laptop users here, for sure :P I was gonna upload some more pictures today too, but realized once I got here I didn't have the card adapter for the phone pictures, so I guess that'll have to wait again, sorry guys XD But at least the only ones missing now are the current ones from Olympia! :)
Now time to wrap this up and head back. Find something productive to do. Maybe ;) Was going to go hiking, but decided as much as I really want to, I probably really should give me feet a little more time to heal. They're feeling a lot better now, but alas, Stray Cat is still gimpy XP I would kill for a nice long walk in the trees though... le sigh :S
May 8 at 12:32am via Mobile Web
Also. Forbis and I are still friends, but Squinty and I are not currently on speaking terms. She just peed IN my clean clothes bag. She's just lucky she didn't go for the super full hamper of just-washed laundry or she would not be a very happy kitty at all.
May 9 at 1:54pm via Mobile Web
Happy Mom's Day Momasaurus Rex! I luuuuuuurve you! ♥
May 10 at 4:48pm
So Friday night was polished off with an impromptu trip with Veles to pick up Zoey's check from her work at the mall and walk it to the bank to deposit it, which took us right by the little carnival in the back of the mall parking lot. It was cute, but you could hear the obnoxious teenaged girls that populated it from outside.
(And by "obnoxious" I mean the type that wave and yell at random business men in trucks that drive by with calls like "I love you! Hey! I know you hear me!" that make the poor guy turning near them super anxious for the light to change. Ugh. That's just so... disrespectful.) And then we were back at the apartment safe from such idiocy and were soon joined by a Zoeybird. And there were yummy quesadillas from dinner! And sleep.
And scrumptious cider-fluffed pancakes for brunch! MMMMMMMMM. Delicious.
Got up and out and active around two when Zoey went in for her second shift that day, planning on going hiking because it was beautiful outside, drove towards the school (Evergreen College) since there's supposedly lots of trails there, missed the turn and wound up on an interstate, and instead of getting frustrated decided hey what the hell, I'm going in the general directions of the trees anyway, why not? Best decision ever. The north 101 out of Olympia is one of the most scenic roads I've ever seen, and it just gets more scenic as you go further out. Turned off at a town with a sign that had a tribal museum (down the road from a big casino, of course) I thought sounded interesting. It turned out to be closed for a tribal funeral, which was kinda sad and made me walk a little quieter back to my car so I wouldn't disturb anybody and such. Turned the wrong way out of the little drive it was off of after second-guessing my directional sense (silly!), but didn't want to turn around in any of the driveways right around there, and so went a little further down the road... and came upon the prettiest bright green sunlit trees ever, followed by a beautiful waterfront view outlook, followed by suddenly being dumped right back on the intersate. Convenient! Then I realized it had dumped me back on the road before the original turnoff I'd made, and the thought occured to me that I could just turn off and loop around again to take pictures of these awesome things.... and so I did. And this time I actually stopped and got out at the outlook for a better view. So worth it!
Back on the road after that, and just went on for a long time as the road got smaller and became just a water-side drive smattered with crazy tiny towns that ran in short strips on either side of the road. There'd be like a dozen buildings on either side of the road and that was the town, and then a little before and after there'd be a couple roads leading further inland and then crazy-for-existing strips of houses that were somehow wedged into the short, steep strip of land between the road and the water, that had these ridiculous almost sideways driveways that I thank my lucky stars I never have to drive on. I think my car would just fall sidelong down the cliff if I tried or something XD I hope none of the owners of those houses are in the habit of driving home drunk. Crazy!
There were a bunch of state parks along the way that I considered stopping to hike at, but I'm not gonna lie, I was entirely entranced by this twisty windy road that was just starting to run along into the mountains along the water, and I was having fun, so I decided to drive a while longer. Finally decided I'd been travelling for like an hour and a half already, and was over 60 miles away from Olympia and would still have to drive back in time to run errands, so I figured I'd stop at the next state park, walk around for a little while, and head back. Well. Turned onto the road the next park was 5 miles into, and followed it. And followed it. And followed it. And it became a gravel road full of retardedly large pothole, and my car was not amused at my choice in recreational activities. And then, I followed it some more =D At a few spots you could see this absolutely BEAUTIFUL mountain stream that coiled by the road, and I could've walked along it all day long, but only got out a couple times to take pictures real quick and hop back in the car, because I actually was not the only car on the road at all. At one point I had to stop for a big red truck maneuvering a boat out of a tiny driveway XD Followed the road for another few minutes, and then hit a sign that said something about "Enter fee area. Recreation pass required" so I figured it was as good a time to turn around as any, and did so. Took a few more pictures on the way out - so pretty! - and discovered I am a pretty fast learner at swerving through the worst of the pot holes. It was almost fun, actually. For me, not for my car. Which I'm not entirely sure has forgiven me yet, the poor dear. Got back to the interstate much faster than it took me to drive in - less stopping and staring, probably ;) - and headed back! It rained off and on the whole way back, and there was a huge double rainbow that just followed the road for a good long way, it was awesome! Yeah, I did a lot of taking pictures while driving on the way back, which means half of them are probably blurry with my not paying attention while taking them, but oh well! Can't wait to post them for you guys. So awesome!
Got back to Olympia, stopped by Tops grocery store to pick up Spire for Zoeykins and some fancy-but-cheap bottled beer for Veles. Went and found the Value Village thrift store after that, with no luck on khaki pants, which I've discovered I can wear at work instead of black pants, supposedly. I did however find a pair of neat flip-flops for $1, and a pair of jean shorts for $2.50, which is good because I've realized I only own 1 pair of shorts that aren't PJs or bathing suit cover-ups now. So, now I have two. One or two more and I'll be just about set XD Stopped by the grocery outlet after that, to stock up on toiletries and lotions and such for Utah while I could get them for cheap. They didn't have the big packs of toilet paper anymore though. Bah humbug. Wal-mart in Colorado, here I come.
Anyway, finally dragged my butt home after that, about an hour before Zoey got home. Laid out on the couch and was going to doze til she arrived, and then Squinty waltzed up to my uber-full clean laundry basket, which I was vaguely weary of, but passed off as nothing to worry about because Vorbis (not Forbis, it turns out. I was spelling it wrong but pronouncing it almost right XD Woops!) had been sleeping on the hamper for the past couple days. But no. No. She climbed up to the top of my laundry pile... and peed. So I jumped up and smacked her off the top of it and pulled the top layer of clothes off real quick to save the ones under it... and quickly realized that this was not the first time she'd done it, as there were a couple of socks absolutely soaked with cat pee that were on the other side of the hamper. UGH. (And this was vaguely confusing because my laptop had been on the pile all day to block such an occurance. Hopefully she's just a quick operator and snuck in multiple shots after I got home and moved the lappy, because the thought of her peeing near my electronics is kind of terrifying in an expensive-to-replaces kind of way.) So I sat there kneeling in front of my laundry basket in total what-do-I-even-do-now frustration for a few moments, got up, and started loading the first load in the washer. GAK. I even washed the hamper in the bath tub with dish soap XD
Aside from that though, my super-productive day continued in a mostly pleasant manner. Zoey got home and Veles cooked pasta, and we sat around and drank beer and cider while watching Kick-Ass, which was a cute movie. Then it was 2 AM and I was happily tipsy, and Z wanted something different to drink because it's hard to get drunk off of cider and beer when you drink them slow, so Veles and I walked to the Shell station to pick something up.... and it was closed. (Really though, we should've just gotten the vodka or rum instead of beer. Cider we all love, beer we bought because it was cheap, but we had to buy enough of it that we might as well have paid the extra dollar or two and got the good stuff XD) So we walked back, and found Zoey asleep! Haha, she'd been up since like 6 AM though, so we just laughed and decided it was bed time =P Turned out to be a good thing, because I'd entirely underestimated how slow my metabolism is, and as soon as I lay down that last beer hit me harder than I expected and the room went a little spinny, which I thoroughly dislike when I'm not standing up and walking around :/ (And I only had 5 beers. Such a mystery! The amount I can drink before I start feeling it never stays the same, I swear!) So. End of the night it was!
Tried and failed to sleep in this morning, stubbornly dozed a couple more hours. Got up and showered to go to Goodwill and look for khakis and shorts again, then managed to waste another couple hours doing nothing before I actually left. Found 1 pair of khakis and 2 awesome pairs of black pants that fit way better and way cuter than the ones I found at the goodwill in VA, tried on at least 2 dozen others that didn't fit, along with a wispy blue and green flowery top I would've killed for if it fit, and some overalls I totally would've brought home with me if the waist wasn't cut so awkwardly high. Home and had this crazy mango crunch ceral, which is sort of similiar to the Special K with fruit cereals, but with crunchy oat clusters :P ♥ Nap after that, then a group grocery store run for potato-soup ingredients because we were all falling asleep and it was now or never, and now I've typed this up and Zoey's a-cookin away! ♥ ♥ So much good food. I'm gonna learn to cook. And I'll even be good at it because it makes sense. Next group of people that pop up in my daily life, prepare yourselves! ^_~ Although this particular endeavor may have to more or less wait until after Utah, unless I can weasel my way into the various operating kitchens on the lake to help here and there and learns some stuffs. I very much feel like I'm finally running into the knowledge-absorbing-frenzy stage of my life I've been monetarily unable to get into for the past few years. So many things I want to learn! EMT training, cooking, bartending, self defense, gymnastics, foreign languages... I want to know everything! Haha, all right now! I'll get there XD Hopefully I can at least knock out the beginnings of cooking/bartending/foreign languages (via the ridiculous number of computer programs I own) while I'm stuck at the marina for 6 months ;)
Anyway, at this point I'm starting to ramble because I'm bored and actually almost feel like I'm talking to somebody for the moment. Which I will stop, because I am not XD Anyway, hope it wasn't too long for you guys! Theoretically going to pack everything back up tonight, and definitely leaving for Colorado at some point tomorrow. Woohoo! And the adventure continues! =D
And oh man. The soup smells so, so good. I wasn't hungry til I could smell it, and now it's not gonna be done for another while. Wah! But there's fancy bread to dip in it too. So excited. Like you don't even know. ♥
And now since I still haven't been able to get a connection to post this, I can tell you how the potato soup was absolutely friggin FABULOUS. And I haven't been this full in a long, long time. Such a killer food coma coming on O_O Uuugh ate sooo muuuuch. But it was sooooo gooooood XD ♥ I think the packing will have to happen tomorrow, even though that means it'll be rushed tomorrow and kill my schedule. Can't... Move... Just... Now.... x_X Will read another couple chapters of the Crossroads manga (so nostalgic!), sip some more water, and pass the hell out XP
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
May 10 at 4:50pm
And now I just have to get moving and repacking so I can get drving! haaaaa did I ever mention how tedious repacking is? bah XD well, best get to it. I'll check in again once I get to Colorado! Hopefully I'll have reliable wireless there, but if not, I'll at least mobile update that I got there safe! Toodles!
Wednesday at 6:20am via Mobile Web
and just when you were starting to think all cross-country drives were similiar and tedious.... pulled over! would-be hitchhiker who also asked me for weed! blizzard! trapped in a Wyoming town with no roads out! Find out what what happens in the next installment of blahblahblah... but now, SLEEP! at a motel 6 waiting for the roads to hopefully be open tomorrow >_> night all! ♥
Added comment on Wednesday at 1:57pm: and ahhhh figures. slept so, so fitfully and woke up with -every- noise, and then 30 minutes before my alarm went off I went into the good, restful sleep and then had to jump up and now I'm all jittery XD but oh well! check out's in an hour and I have this convenient shower thing here, so, awake I shall be! XD
Wednesday at 3:21pm via Mobile Web
ok! roads are open, I'm checked out of the hotel, and I'll be in Colorado Springs in four hours! XD
Yesterday Thursday May 13th at 8:50pm via Mobile Web
Learned to Faux Paint today, and got paid for it! Then babysitting Ace, who is adorable, and who has been zonked out in my lap for the last 2 episodes or so of Yo Gabba Gabba! XD
2 hours ago on Friday May 14th
Best quote I've read all day, but does not fit in my status:
Senor Casey Kirk says: "People use the term "living life" to justify making a series of bad choices and potentially dangerous ones. When in reality, living life is really us finding out the best choices for ourselves. Ones that will bring us positive people into our lives, mold us into our future selves, and ultimately help us to live happily for a longer term. This is what comes to my mind at 5:15 a.m. in the shower :P" And he's absolutely right. =D
2 hours ago on Friday May 14th
And also, here's that update I've been promising you guys and am finally able to get to you!
OK! So. All about the drive. Hopefully this won't wind up being too long, for all of our sakes XD Well, ok, for mine, since there are still, apparently, a few of you who enjoy reading the long ones. Anywho!
So I left Zoey's house around 8 PM after very meticulolusly repacking and reorganizing my car, and went to fill up the gas tank. The very next thing I did was spill water in my lap. Didn't even get outta town first. Geez. Ah well. Coulda changed. Didn't. It dried eventually XD Oh, also, I was later very glad I wore jeans and not shorts when leaving for this venture. Still was in a tank top and flip flops though. Just so you have that in mind.
Also, I mentioned Oregon's littering signs a while back, but feel the need to give Washington's a spotlight too. I forget the exact wording, but it was "Don't litter. It will hurt." or "Litter, and it will hurt." or something to that effect. I'm sure they'll tell you it's the environment that'll be in pain, but I bet it you and your wallet even more so ;) Idaho had a funny one too. "Idaho is too great to litter." or some such. Ahaha.
Drove through Washington for a while, and was alllllmost out of the state, when... red and blue lights. Pulled out of the median just for me. Fack. I didn't think I was going more than 10 over though... or maybe 15... was praying it was just the headlight being out, and that he didn't tack on the speed too... because even though everybody else was passing me and I was mostly just trying not to get runned over, ya still can't argue that with a cop, 'cuz you were still speeding. Ha, and then he was tapping on my passenger side window and I had to lean over and open the door because the window doesn't open XD
He wound up not mentioning speed at all, and kindly informed me that my headlight was out, and double-checked for me which one it was, just to make sure I knew which one to fix. Ha, and then he asked for proof of insurance. Which I realized was in my other purse. In the trunk. Luckily, he decided he could just run the car info and get it later. Very nice man, actually, this Washingtonian accented cop. Who is the only person I met in Washington with an accent at all XD So I asked his opinion about what I should do since I had just started my super long drive to Colorado, like whether I should stop and get a hotel and get it fixed in the AM, or just get where I'm going and get it fixed there. He debated this for a moment, and decided I should be fine since my GPS was keeping me on the more major highways. Good man.
So off I was again! I don't actually remember what state I was in when I stopped to sleep... hmmm.... oh well. It was cold, anyway. So I got through Oregon, and into Idaho, where I stopped at a rest stop where a guy and his dog were chillin at the picnic tables, and the dog ran over to me so I pet it, and it totally gave the guy an opening to start up a conversation. Which I didn't mind, really. Long drive with nobody to talk to and all. Then he asked is they could get a ride as far as Wyoming. He had pretty eyes and was harmless, but on principle I was still glad of the excuse that I didn't have room for an extra PERSON in my car, let alone a person, his few belongings, and his dog. Ha, and as soon as I turned him down he shrugged it off and asked if I had any weed he could buy off me. I was amused. Laughed and told him no, and went off to the bathrooms. Felt a little bad leaving him there because it was cold and windy and rainy/sleety, but not bad enough to change my mind, but was still glad to see that in the 5 minutes I was in the bathroom, someone else had pulled up and agreed to give him a ride. And that was that!
And then. I crossed over into Wyoming.... and then it started to snow. And then sleet. And then snow HARD. But it was okay, I couldn't really see that well, but it wasn't sticking to the roads, so oh well! And then I crossed some invisible line, and the road was suddenly slushy, and then it was sticking GOOD. So I pulled off at a truck stop to fill up the tank and take one last potty break, because I figured I wouldn't be able to stop again until I was out of the storm. And in this parking lot, all the cars were covered in 4 inches of snow. And I stepped out of my car, in flip flops... into 3 inches of melty cold slush. Ugh. So not fun. Then I stood there and shivered violently while the gas pumped, and my brain was a repetitive mantra of "Fuck my life, fuck my life, it's fucking cold, fuck my life..." and so on. AGH. Ha, and then I barely made it back up the on ramp. But I did, bahaha. My little mazda thinks it's a 4-wheel drive that can run with the big boys, and I have a tendency to tell her she can do anything if she has the determination and willpower to pull it off ;P So I spent the next 6 hours navigating the road less than 10 feet at a time, constantly shifting my view from the tire tracks in the road to the 2 lines of reflectors that you really had to pay attention to where they were leading so you didn't wind up veering towards the exits on accident, and if I was lucky, a pretty set of red tail lights in front of me. I quickly decided it was a good idea to drive behind the big trucks because the road was clearer there, and also that I would pull off and let them pass me so I could go as slow as I felt comfortable going. Which was always a dilemma because I had to keep enough momentum to get up the uphill bits on the mountain roads, but also had to go slow enough to have reaction time in case I started sliding, because not all of the drop-offs have guard rails, just the ones with more than a 1-2 story fall.
Off and on there would be other smallish cars and hatchbacks on the road, and we would wind up in a sort of caravan, following eachother and pulling off all together whenever a big truck would come by, because when they pass you, they throw so much snow and ice and your car that you can't see AT ALL for a good 10 seconds. Which is deadly if you're going more than 10 mph, so... we weren't XD Biggest caravan was 4 cars long, but they always broke up within an hour or so. All the places to pull off and stop were full up with big and little cars both, but we were determined. (And really, I couldn't stop, or I'd get stuck. Like, would take at least a full day to dig out after spending all night in the freezing cold kind of stuck, and who the hell wants to be trapped at a truck stop or rest stop for any length of time? So I couldn't stop until I was out of the storm. Said me.) At some point I ran out of wiper fluid to break up the ice on the wipers, and so that wasn't so great, and then towards the end of the 6 hours a truck passed by and threw a tons of really dirty water at my window, that mostly froze there. I could still see, but it was amazingly annoying.
So I finally, finally, FINALLY, with an extreme headached from concentrating so hard for so long, made it to where I had to switch highways (although I still had 3 1/2 hours of driving left to go, it was an achievement!) and the storm had let up a LOT, but the roads were still horrible. So I got off on the exit that went through Laramie, Wyoming and connected to the next highway, drove on through... and the road I needed was closed. Fak. So I tried to find a place to clean my window, stopped at a gas station... and couldn't get out of my car. My door was frozen shut. AGH. Very awkwardly crawled out the passenger side, walked around to the cleaner station... and the people hadn't actually filled it with cleaner, so it was just a frozen solid squeegee. I was so mad. So I crawled back in my car and headed back to the road I was on.... only to find out that it, too, was closed. And therefore, there was really no way out of town. And then the ice on the roads hit the danger zone for real, and I totally spun out in an intersection. It's pretty bad when you're going 5 mph and still lose control of your steering.
So after finding my way back across town to the affordable lodging (Motel 6 for 39.99 is exponentially better than comfort inn for 89.99. wrong side of town my ass), which took forever going 5 mph, I grabbed my stuff and checked in, talked to the night clerk girl about the crazy psycho man that had just called asking about reservations, and headed up to my room that had 2 beds in it, just for me XD Checked my facebook like an addict, texted my mom and Brian to let them know I was indeed not going to be in Colorado that night, and went to sleep. Woke up with every little thing, including the fairly quiet heater going on or off, and also what I swore was a knock on the door but nobody was there when I finally got up to check, and then when I was fiiiiiinally sleeping good, it was shower and checkout time. BAH.
Was a minute and 30 seconds late for checkout, which made the day shift clerk lady laugh and send me on my merry way, and then I knocked the ice and snow I could out of my tire wells and hit the road, which completely looked like it had never been horrible in the first place. I was impressed.
Finally made it to the Springs 4 hours later, and chilled with Brian and Ace (and Brian's twin sisters) until Natalie got home. Oh and also Brian's cat Skwisgaar =P Who is a bengal cat and spotted, and therefore awesome. Then we went out for a late dinner after they put Ace to bed (the girls were home in case he woke up), and wound up at a Denny's-ish place they have a chain of out here called Village Inn. I was supremely glad that we picked that one over IHOP and Denny's, because without even reading the rest of the menu, I found this pick 4 deal they had an insert for. And fell in love with it. Oh man. There were like 25 things to choose from, and I could have any 4 for $7, or a 5th for an extra 70 cents. And they weren't just small sad little things either! I wound up with a loaded strawberry and sweet creme crepe, and 2-egg cheese omelette, a biscuit with gravy, and a bowl of fruit. So full, but it was SO GOOD. And then. AND THEN. I found another insert. Free slice of pie with any purchase every Wednesday. AND IT WAS WEDNESDAY. Best meal out ever! XD Had to take the pie home though after one bite cuz I was so stuffed already. Strawberry rhubarb!
Then home and sleep, and got up early this morning to go WORK! Haha, Natalie's been working a side job helping out some friends of hers who are remodeling a dentist's office with the painting, and said they let her bring whoever she wanted along to help and they'd pay them too! So I was alll for it! $15 an hour, for the win. It was killer getting up because I still haven't gotten any real sleep from the drive, and then when Natalie told me they only needed me for half a day I almost decided it wasn't worth losing sleep over, but I went anyway because I'm broke, and it was TOTALLY worth it! I learned a new skill, had FUN with it, and got PAID for it! Then we broke for lunch and I got the feeling they actually wouldn't have minded me staying on the rest of the day at all, but Brian and Natalie needed someone to babysit Ace, so we figured I'd go back after lunch and help out. Which my money-grubbing side struggled with a little, but whatever! I'm on vacation and Ace is friggin adorable, so I was happy to look after him for a while :)
So for lunch we went to this Asian buffet, which was fantastic, and it had PEACH BUNS! oh man. so good. and so cute! (I'll post a picture AS SOON as I manage an internet connection, promise!) Got to know the crew a little better now that we weren't all working, and they're actually really neat people! I had a lot of fun and felt good about getting a day of good work accomplished. Also, I've discovered I actually rather enjoy painting :) Haha and I made $47 after buying lunch, so all around not bad!
Then I went back to the apartment so Brian could leave for work, and spent the next 3 hours or so just chillin' with Ace until the girls got home :) And then I played with him until he finally gave in to being so tired for 2+ hours that he didn't know what to do with himself, and fell asleep in my lap. Let him be for an hour or two and then put him in his crib so i could start typing this ^_^ Natalie got home an hour or so later, and evidently things had gotten a little crazy after lunch with the painting job, and they told her she should call me back because I was good at it and they needed help. (Because I'm a fast learner and yes, my ego is muchly inflated. But ya know what? Compliments like that my first time ever painting, let alone faux painting? I'm allowed ♥ ) Haha but that would've left no babysitter, so they were out of luck =P
Annnnd tonight Natalie cooked a fabulous tofu curry dinner, with sides of chick peas and spinach. All so delicious. Yummmmm. And now I'm caught up! Huzzah! Now. How to get this from my laptop to you guys on facebook with no internets. I barely even have a phone signal here XD Bah. I'll find a way! It will probably include a flash drive and posting it from Brian and Natalie's computer, but it'll get done! :P Til next time, all :)
And since that was typed up last night and saved in word until I could post it, that puts my updates a day behind! But today is easily summed up by: Jack In The Box for breakfast, chillaxin for the rest of the day, and have finally commandeered Brian and Natalie's internet connection, but have plugged it into my laptop so I can maybe upload ... See Morepictures now finally. But expect those tomorrow, because they'll take a while to get organized since I'm so far behind! :)
Now to get this e-mail and picture stuff done while Natalie and Brian are working and the twins are watching Ace :)
2 seconds ago
Ok! Spent the last few hours gathering all my status updates and posting them in an organized form into my livejournal, and e-mailing copies of it to the people who have neither facebook or LJ who wanted to know what's been up. So if any of you enjoy reading all of my updates but miss things, you can either jump over to my LJ (link in first comment) or comment/message me your e-mail and I'll forward you the e-mails.
Comment: Ha, I need to change my journal layout, it's been this one forever... anyone know how to make good ones who'd be willing to help me out?
http://kellivara.livejournal.com/
++(And that's all, folks! See ya on the flip side! ^_~)++
May 4 at 9:11pm
Scrooge having craptastic wireless connections that eat captions and make me do everything 2-5 times and takes 4 times as long to do it every time I do it. Bah. Will find somewhere with free wi-fi tomorrow, until then, no updates from me >_>
May 5 at 12:57am via Mobile Web
Mmmm fancy beer and cider. With impressively cheap beer to fill in the cracks ^_~
May 5 at 3:20am via Mobile Web
Aqua, I adore you. And you have a NEW cd coming out this year? Fucking YES. And it's GOOD, while being totally different from their old stuff.
May 5 at 4:17am via Mobile Web
Withdrawl is a hellacious bitch. Just sayin.
Comment from Charles: What are you withdrawing from?
Me: happy pretzels.
May 5 at 3:31pm
Ok! So onto the next batch of updatey goodness. Firstly, I would like to point out that every day here feels like 2 days. This is not a bad thing at all ;) Mostly it's because I've been gettin up decently early and whittling the first half of the day, which in my general daily routine is how the day ends, so I feel like it's over with that.
And then Zoey gets home from work and the day starts all over, but really it's only like...2-5 PM at that point. It's kinda nice! Haha, make me feel like I'm days behind on updating though, even though it's actually only one really full day usually XD
So. I have no reliable internet right now, and so once again am writing this update up in WordPad in the hopes of getting 30 seconds of internet at some point so I can post it really quick. Also my phone is dead and I don't quite remember which bag I put the charger in, so the small updates I was putting up through facebook mobile are temporarily out of service too >_>
Somehow I've managed to put up all the pictures from LA and Portland, and even got them organized into chronological order (they get mixed up because I upload them from multiple cameras/cellphones/whatever I take pictures with), but it's only allowed me time to put up like... 3 captions so far. Which sucks because now everybody's gonna look at the pictures and not know what they are :( Big frown. D= Oh well, maybe I can caption them on Zoey's computer before I put this update up. And I also just put together a list of people who want e-mail summary updates from me, which I can just forward when I send them to my mom anyway, but I haven't had time to get to my e-mail to do it XD And the e-mail addresses are all in my text inbox, sooo... XD
Anywho~! Tuesday was muchly fun. Hung around the apartment for a bit in the morning, then walked with Veles at 2 to go meet Zoey for lunch on her break at the mall she works in. We went to a mediocre sub and fries place, but they were decently affordable and I got lunch for today out of it too. Then I fell in love with a necklace while we were in Icing bothering her at work for a bit before we walked home, and also discovered they still had the headband that I loved forever and wore all the time until it broke into pieces in my purse. So. FML, but I couldn't leave the store until they were mine. And wound up buying the matching bracelet and earrings to keep Zoey and her friends' sales averages where they should be. Trixy little sales girl and her crazy antics! But I guess not wanting to bring your friends' sales averages down kinda goes with overtipping because I know how it goes, soooo... whatever! And the bracelet and earring are crazy cute too, so I really can't complain too much, as long as I don't spend all my gas money ;)
Went home and spent some more time struggling with facebook on the weak-signalled unprotected connections around here that constantly cut out and refuse you acess. Managed to organize the LA pics finally, and then it ate all my captions. Twice. And right about when I was frustrated enough to want to stab the computer and/or myself, Zoey came home! XD Yay. Paid my rent online finally, printed out the employment papers from Utah so I can sign them (which I need to do today and scan them so I can e-mail them back... bah!), and read through them all before we cleaned stuff out of my car so I could fit Zoey and Veles in it to go to the bank and grocery shopping. Worked out anyway, because we brought all my clothes in, and once I do laundry I'll need to repack all of it... Conveniently, there's a non-coin-operated washer and dryer in the apartment here, although they're a little rough and noisy ;)
Stopped by a couple different places. Bank, Tops where we didn't actually wind up getting anything, Trader Joe's where we snagged $30 in cider and the cheapest beer I've ever seen (which I actually like? impressive for $3 a 6-pack), along with a bottle of fancy lager for the hell of it =P Went to the grocery outlet and stocked up on toothpaste and soap and such for Utah, because I might as well get it where it's cheap. Went home, had some spaghetti-type goodness with random sorts of noodles, and had a few drinks with the best people possible, just sitting around and talking and playing different sorts of music for a few hours. Soooo much fun. And we made the cat dance. And he just doesn't care. Didn't even run away and hide afterwards, just loved the attention. Forbis I ♥ you.
4 beers and barely buzzed. Damn. 2 in I was almost a little tipsy, and then I ate, and it was all over. Damn XD Can I go back to being a lightweight now? I've only had one beer this whole trip, it's not like I'm immune from overuse, geeeez. But oh well. I digress. Such is life XD Next time we'll just have to start earlier so we're not all ready for bed by the 4th drink. And so we have time to nurse each one, because chugging cider is just unnatural. Oh yeah, we're some crazy youngins. 21 and gettin' old already XD
Woke up the first time around 8 with Zoey's alarm, and dozed back off and on for another half hour, but thought I'd woken up at least 8 times within that half hour, only to realize I was dreaming XD Like I would wake up and listen to the other two waking up and getting up and moving around me, but go back to sleep each time even though I hate being the last one up, and one time I was sitting at a table in the living room (that doesn't actually exist) eating cookies for breakfast while Z made coffee and grabbed herself something to eat, and grumbling about not wanting to be awake... and then it was like 11:30 and I was finally dragging out of bed/off the couch and walking around talking to Zoey and Veles while Zoey played the new Aqua CD over and over (which isn't actually out yet...) and I felt kinda bad for sleeping so much longer than everyone else and Zoey was giving me the "It's about damn time you got up." look, and then I woke up again under the covers, and was thinking "DAMNIT, did I give in and go back to sleep? I don't remember even going back to the couch... Bet they've given up on me at this point...." and I think that's the point at which I actually started to wake up, and Zoey walked by and really did offer me coffee. I asked her what time it was and it was only 8:30, thank god. And then I asked if I'd actually woken up several times and talked to her, but she said although she had walked by a couple times and seen my eyes open, I hadn't actually got up and been vocal yet. Which means that, as I suspected, -some- of the stuff that filtered into my half-concious stuff was real, and Zoey had been making coffee and was playing music, although not Aqua, but Veles was still also just getting up, and nobody had eaten yet and I hadn't actually missed anything at all, really. So fascinatingly fun to discect what was fiction and what was reality because they were so intertwined this morning. Considered going back to sleep after she went to work, but after feeling so bad for sleeping so much later than everyone else in the dream, I decided strictly against it, and right about then the coffee and chocolate frosted flakes I was eating starting to kick in and wake me up, and so the day had finally begun!
Hopped on the laptop and managed to get the rest of the current pictures uploaded and in the right order, then got frustrated trying to caption them and continuously getting disconnected, and so have typed this up. Aaaaand caught up again! Woo!
And someone just knocked on the door and then walked away because they realized it was the wrong door. XD
And now to post this before my temp connection dies again! Huzzah!
May 5 at 8:00pm via Mobile Web
vaguely wonders if the reason she doesn't actually have a best friend these days is because she doesn't let people get close enough, or doesn't put enough effort in, or something. I mean, it can't all just be that I don't really click with anyone anymore, can it?
Comment from Charles: To really have a best friend, you need to click but you also need a lot of interaction. Maybe your issue is you spend a little time with lot's of people and not lots of time with one person? There are lot's of people that I could probably be a best friend with but we are all separated by taking different path's in life and great distance. Eventually, you'll find someone to take that mantel.
May 7 at 2:04am
So Wednesday was good! Zoey got off work and we went downtown to this place called Big Tom's that's supposed to be the best burger place in the state, or second best, or something. The burgers were good! Really, really good, actually. Still fast food, but beats the hell out of all the big chains. Cash only though dears, cash only.
After that we went to the biggest comic book store on the west coast, which is fantastic. Now mind you, not the biggest manga or book store, the biggest COMIC book store. They do have manga though, and almost all of it was crazy on sale. Like... 70% off the average price. So I bought 3 for $10, all 3 of which were things I already have some of the volumes of. Talked to the lady who owns it for a while. She was nice! But they didn't have the new issue of the comic Z and Veles were looking for, so she called another, much smaller store downtown, and they had it! So we stopped by that one, and they had a tiny $1 rack of manga (with like 5 manga on it) and one of them was the 4th volume of Alice 19th, which is either the only one I've been missing forever, or I just bought a double, but for $1 I can gamble on it. Libby, when you read this, do you know which one I'm missing?
After that we came back to the apartment, I sat down and just knew I was about to be very anti-social, so I told Zoey to go ahead and start the movie without me, especially since it was Iron Man, which I've seen before, so it wouldn't hurt to cut in a little late. So I sat down on the couch and texted some of the more prevalent people in my life, because I just needed to talk to some of them and prove to myself I wasn't losing them forever and can actually hang on to a few of the people I love, and that I do indeed have people that care about me. Sometimes life is just too cold when you're going it alone, and I was in desperate need of an emotional blanket. And so of course Bobby, being Bobby, called me immediately and almost made me cry because it caught me so off guard, and after like 15/20 minutes of much needed conversation, he let slip that he was standing outside of IHOP ignoring a large group of people to talk to me, at which point I immediately told him to hang up and call back when he wasn't out with friends XD Spent the next 2 hours or so speed-texting a couple different people back and forth, with half a dozen other just-to-say-I-miss-you-guys texts thrown into the mix here and there. Charles and Bobby, thank you for dealing with my ranting and raving and general distraught state of mind for over 2 hours. Dear sirs, I commend you both. Seriously.
So by the end of all that I was all little worn out and just wanted to relax and let things settle and fall as they may in my mind, so I grabbed the last of the popcorn, popped the cap off a cider, and wriggled my way into the extra bit of blanket at the end of Zoey and Veles's bed to watch the rest of the movie with them. It was a cute movie, as always, and when it was over we were all ready to crash. So off to the couch I went, for a dreamless, restful sleep once I finally fell into it, and that was that.
Got up this morning on the earlier side and drove Z to her interview for this awesomely fantastic job that she totally deserves, and which she will definitely get because she's fabulous. Dropped her off and took my laptop to kill time at the library a couple of bloks down, and maybe finally finish captioning those pictures I've been getting to 3-15 at a time once or twice a day before the ridiculously weak connection dies on me and won't let me back on... but no dice. Library didn't open for another hour, at 11. So I asked the skater kid who was waiting at the door for it to open (I guess?) if there was anywhere else nearby with wi-fi, who said there was a McDonalds pretty close if you walk that way and uhh... just keep walkin that way. So I drove that way for a few lights and huzzah! Mickey D's. Ordered a sausage, egg, and cheese McGriddle with Canadian bacon instead of sausage because I'd nvere had one and it looked good (and it WAS good), set up in the corner with the wall plug, turned my laptop on and.... broken wi-fi. Saaaaadfaaaaace. Called the troubleshooting number on the paper they give out, shocked the guy who thought I was a manager by telling him I was a customer and got the store number off a receipt like his very own troubleshooting record had told me to do 10 seconds prior to him picking up, and he said he'd get it fixed!....But then Z called and I asked the chick he'd just connected me to to hold while just long enough for me to tell her where I was, but somewhere in the process of getting back to the first line the call got ended, and Zoey's interview was over, so I said screw it, packed up, and went to go meet her. Got out to the car and saw she'd already made it almost to the McDonald's parking lot, so I didn't even have to go get her XD
Back at the apartment, vegged for a while, Veles got up and went to school, Zoey and I exchanged a bunch of the music on our hard drives, which took a good long while, and then Veles got home and we had ramen. Zoey decided she's whip us up some authentic Mexican hot chocolate (the kind made with, ya know, chocolate instead of powder, with cinnamon and sugar already in the chocolate) and we ventured out to the liquor store for some coffee liqueur to cinch the taste, and stopped by Trader Joe's on the way back to restock on the $3 6-packs of Red Oval for tomorrow night while we were out, because none of us has to wake up early Saturday morning =P Trader Joe's has beautiful flowers and I got a new cell phone background out of it. I swear to god it's the prettiest thing ever. Can't wait to show it to you guys. Although that requires, ya know, more internets XD Takes 20 minutes these days just to copy and past these updates from where I pre-type them up in WordPad to a status update. Yargh.
Anyways. Got back home and had the most deliciously creamy hot chocolate ever, which made me think a lot of the movie Chocolat and Z and I wound up discussing how chili pepper in hot chocolate really is the most amazing thing ever, although I still haven't had the chance to try it that way. Will make a note to do that soon.
Tonight we're going to watch a sci-fi movie called Sunshine that's supposed to be really good and none of us has seen yet. Can't wait. And Veles is making pizza! Which is homemade and delicious. Mmmmmm.
Talk to you lovelies soon! And because it's come up recently, I just want to vehemently point out to you all, that just because I'm on an adventure doesn't mean you can't call me when you're having a bad day! I'm not a fair-weather friend, and I have a cell phone that I pay bills on every month for a reason ;) So if any of you ever need me, for any reason, call. ♥
And for tonight, sweet dreams full of happy things and the freedom of wings to you all! ♥
Good night, keep warm, I love you.
May 7 at 8:28am via Mobile Web
Ohhhh my god. The relief that that was a dream is so profound right now that I don't even know whatto do with myself. That was so intensely heartbreaking that I can't think straight, and I woke up all shakey because I was about to start crying. Now to get up and walk around and get water and try to convince myself that never happened. And hopefully I can get some more sleep. Kind of afraid to :/
May 7 at 10:24pm
Went to Seattle today to see Norah! Haven't see her since the YFU trip to japan back in '05. Wow. Talk about long time no see.
Started the day off a half hour late, then took one wrong turn getting off the freeway and was suddenly stuck going across the bridge to the other side of Seattle with no way to turn around until I got to to the other side, and my GPS decided it hated me after that, got me theoretically to Norah's place, but the road ended in a bunch of do not enter signs a block from where her street number should've been. So we tried searching for an address on the cross street from where she lives, and it took me much further away XD Eventually my GPS got so tired of sending me down the wrong roads and one time almost making me hit an SUV that it just decided to be in a constant state of recalculation. So after one more attempt that put me on some freeway going god knows what direction, I just decided to get off at whatever the next exit was and Norah came to find me instead XD It worked out though, turned into a random auto-shop looking parking lot to wait for her to find me and catch up on organizing my milage logs, and then realized there was not only a Starbucks there but a bunch of restaurants too, and so it was that we wound up eating at an entirely randomly found Vietnamese restaurant with awkward slushy bubble tea. It was good though!
And the conversation was great, lots of quirky coincidences. Isn't it funny how small the world always turns out to be? Packed leftover lunch for dinner or lunch tomorrow, and headed home, which took 2 hours instead of 1 because of early traffic. Lame.
Was at the apartment just long enough to toss my food in the fridge and reply to a couple of texts, then figured I'd go find someplace with free wi-fi so I could finally get the rest of the friggin pictures captioned. Which I have! Go check 'em out. Do it XD I wound up driving Zoey to work and coming to this lovely Borders here, getting sucks into buying a couple bargain books, and took over the table with the wall plug at the cafe. Lots of laptop users here, for sure :P I was gonna upload some more pictures today too, but realized once I got here I didn't have the card adapter for the phone pictures, so I guess that'll have to wait again, sorry guys XD But at least the only ones missing now are the current ones from Olympia! :)
Now time to wrap this up and head back. Find something productive to do. Maybe ;) Was going to go hiking, but decided as much as I really want to, I probably really should give me feet a little more time to heal. They're feeling a lot better now, but alas, Stray Cat is still gimpy XP I would kill for a nice long walk in the trees though... le sigh :S
May 8 at 12:32am via Mobile Web
Also. Forbis and I are still friends, but Squinty and I are not currently on speaking terms. She just peed IN my clean clothes bag. She's just lucky she didn't go for the super full hamper of just-washed laundry or she would not be a very happy kitty at all.
May 9 at 1:54pm via Mobile Web
Happy Mom's Day Momasaurus Rex! I luuuuuuurve you! ♥
May 10 at 4:48pm
So Friday night was polished off with an impromptu trip with Veles to pick up Zoey's check from her work at the mall and walk it to the bank to deposit it, which took us right by the little carnival in the back of the mall parking lot. It was cute, but you could hear the obnoxious teenaged girls that populated it from outside.
(And by "obnoxious" I mean the type that wave and yell at random business men in trucks that drive by with calls like "I love you! Hey! I know you hear me!" that make the poor guy turning near them super anxious for the light to change. Ugh. That's just so... disrespectful.) And then we were back at the apartment safe from such idiocy and were soon joined by a Zoeybird. And there were yummy quesadillas from dinner! And sleep.
And scrumptious cider-fluffed pancakes for brunch! MMMMMMMMM. Delicious.
Got up and out and active around two when Zoey went in for her second shift that day, planning on going hiking because it was beautiful outside, drove towards the school (Evergreen College) since there's supposedly lots of trails there, missed the turn and wound up on an interstate, and instead of getting frustrated decided hey what the hell, I'm going in the general directions of the trees anyway, why not? Best decision ever. The north 101 out of Olympia is one of the most scenic roads I've ever seen, and it just gets more scenic as you go further out. Turned off at a town with a sign that had a tribal museum (down the road from a big casino, of course) I thought sounded interesting. It turned out to be closed for a tribal funeral, which was kinda sad and made me walk a little quieter back to my car so I wouldn't disturb anybody and such. Turned the wrong way out of the little drive it was off of after second-guessing my directional sense (silly!), but didn't want to turn around in any of the driveways right around there, and so went a little further down the road... and came upon the prettiest bright green sunlit trees ever, followed by a beautiful waterfront view outlook, followed by suddenly being dumped right back on the intersate. Convenient! Then I realized it had dumped me back on the road before the original turnoff I'd made, and the thought occured to me that I could just turn off and loop around again to take pictures of these awesome things.... and so I did. And this time I actually stopped and got out at the outlook for a better view. So worth it!
Back on the road after that, and just went on for a long time as the road got smaller and became just a water-side drive smattered with crazy tiny towns that ran in short strips on either side of the road. There'd be like a dozen buildings on either side of the road and that was the town, and then a little before and after there'd be a couple roads leading further inland and then crazy-for-existing strips of houses that were somehow wedged into the short, steep strip of land between the road and the water, that had these ridiculous almost sideways driveways that I thank my lucky stars I never have to drive on. I think my car would just fall sidelong down the cliff if I tried or something XD I hope none of the owners of those houses are in the habit of driving home drunk. Crazy!
There were a bunch of state parks along the way that I considered stopping to hike at, but I'm not gonna lie, I was entirely entranced by this twisty windy road that was just starting to run along into the mountains along the water, and I was having fun, so I decided to drive a while longer. Finally decided I'd been travelling for like an hour and a half already, and was over 60 miles away from Olympia and would still have to drive back in time to run errands, so I figured I'd stop at the next state park, walk around for a little while, and head back. Well. Turned onto the road the next park was 5 miles into, and followed it. And followed it. And followed it. And it became a gravel road full of retardedly large pothole, and my car was not amused at my choice in recreational activities. And then, I followed it some more =D At a few spots you could see this absolutely BEAUTIFUL mountain stream that coiled by the road, and I could've walked along it all day long, but only got out a couple times to take pictures real quick and hop back in the car, because I actually was not the only car on the road at all. At one point I had to stop for a big red truck maneuvering a boat out of a tiny driveway XD Followed the road for another few minutes, and then hit a sign that said something about "Enter fee area. Recreation pass required" so I figured it was as good a time to turn around as any, and did so. Took a few more pictures on the way out - so pretty! - and discovered I am a pretty fast learner at swerving through the worst of the pot holes. It was almost fun, actually. For me, not for my car. Which I'm not entirely sure has forgiven me yet, the poor dear. Got back to the interstate much faster than it took me to drive in - less stopping and staring, probably ;) - and headed back! It rained off and on the whole way back, and there was a huge double rainbow that just followed the road for a good long way, it was awesome! Yeah, I did a lot of taking pictures while driving on the way back, which means half of them are probably blurry with my not paying attention while taking them, but oh well! Can't wait to post them for you guys. So awesome!
Got back to Olympia, stopped by Tops grocery store to pick up Spire for Zoeykins and some fancy-but-cheap bottled beer for Veles. Went and found the Value Village thrift store after that, with no luck on khaki pants, which I've discovered I can wear at work instead of black pants, supposedly. I did however find a pair of neat flip-flops for $1, and a pair of jean shorts for $2.50, which is good because I've realized I only own 1 pair of shorts that aren't PJs or bathing suit cover-ups now. So, now I have two. One or two more and I'll be just about set XD Stopped by the grocery outlet after that, to stock up on toiletries and lotions and such for Utah while I could get them for cheap. They didn't have the big packs of toilet paper anymore though. Bah humbug. Wal-mart in Colorado, here I come.
Anyway, finally dragged my butt home after that, about an hour before Zoey got home. Laid out on the couch and was going to doze til she arrived, and then Squinty waltzed up to my uber-full clean laundry basket, which I was vaguely weary of, but passed off as nothing to worry about because Vorbis (not Forbis, it turns out. I was spelling it wrong but pronouncing it almost right XD Woops!) had been sleeping on the hamper for the past couple days. But no. No. She climbed up to the top of my laundry pile... and peed. So I jumped up and smacked her off the top of it and pulled the top layer of clothes off real quick to save the ones under it... and quickly realized that this was not the first time she'd done it, as there were a couple of socks absolutely soaked with cat pee that were on the other side of the hamper. UGH. (And this was vaguely confusing because my laptop had been on the pile all day to block such an occurance. Hopefully she's just a quick operator and snuck in multiple shots after I got home and moved the lappy, because the thought of her peeing near my electronics is kind of terrifying in an expensive-to-replaces kind of way.) So I sat there kneeling in front of my laundry basket in total what-do-I-even-do-now frustration for a few moments, got up, and started loading the first load in the washer. GAK. I even washed the hamper in the bath tub with dish soap XD
Aside from that though, my super-productive day continued in a mostly pleasant manner. Zoey got home and Veles cooked pasta, and we sat around and drank beer and cider while watching Kick-Ass, which was a cute movie. Then it was 2 AM and I was happily tipsy, and Z wanted something different to drink because it's hard to get drunk off of cider and beer when you drink them slow, so Veles and I walked to the Shell station to pick something up.... and it was closed. (Really though, we should've just gotten the vodka or rum instead of beer. Cider we all love, beer we bought because it was cheap, but we had to buy enough of it that we might as well have paid the extra dollar or two and got the good stuff XD) So we walked back, and found Zoey asleep! Haha, she'd been up since like 6 AM though, so we just laughed and decided it was bed time =P Turned out to be a good thing, because I'd entirely underestimated how slow my metabolism is, and as soon as I lay down that last beer hit me harder than I expected and the room went a little spinny, which I thoroughly dislike when I'm not standing up and walking around :/ (And I only had 5 beers. Such a mystery! The amount I can drink before I start feeling it never stays the same, I swear!) So. End of the night it was!
Tried and failed to sleep in this morning, stubbornly dozed a couple more hours. Got up and showered to go to Goodwill and look for khakis and shorts again, then managed to waste another couple hours doing nothing before I actually left. Found 1 pair of khakis and 2 awesome pairs of black pants that fit way better and way cuter than the ones I found at the goodwill in VA, tried on at least 2 dozen others that didn't fit, along with a wispy blue and green flowery top I would've killed for if it fit, and some overalls I totally would've brought home with me if the waist wasn't cut so awkwardly high. Home and had this crazy mango crunch ceral, which is sort of similiar to the Special K with fruit cereals, but with crunchy oat clusters :P ♥ Nap after that, then a group grocery store run for potato-soup ingredients because we were all falling asleep and it was now or never, and now I've typed this up and Zoey's a-cookin away! ♥ ♥ So much good food. I'm gonna learn to cook. And I'll even be good at it because it makes sense. Next group of people that pop up in my daily life, prepare yourselves! ^_~ Although this particular endeavor may have to more or less wait until after Utah, unless I can weasel my way into the various operating kitchens on the lake to help here and there and learns some stuffs. I very much feel like I'm finally running into the knowledge-absorbing-frenzy stage of my life I've been monetarily unable to get into for the past few years. So many things I want to learn! EMT training, cooking, bartending, self defense, gymnastics, foreign languages... I want to know everything! Haha, all right now! I'll get there XD Hopefully I can at least knock out the beginnings of cooking/bartending/foreign languages (via the ridiculous number of computer programs I own) while I'm stuck at the marina for 6 months ;)
Anyway, at this point I'm starting to ramble because I'm bored and actually almost feel like I'm talking to somebody for the moment. Which I will stop, because I am not XD Anyway, hope it wasn't too long for you guys! Theoretically going to pack everything back up tonight, and definitely leaving for Colorado at some point tomorrow. Woohoo! And the adventure continues! =D
And oh man. The soup smells so, so good. I wasn't hungry til I could smell it, and now it's not gonna be done for another while. Wah! But there's fancy bread to dip in it too. So excited. Like you don't even know. ♥
And now since I still haven't been able to get a connection to post this, I can tell you how the potato soup was absolutely friggin FABULOUS. And I haven't been this full in a long, long time. Such a killer food coma coming on O_O Uuugh ate sooo muuuuch. But it was sooooo gooooood XD ♥ I think the packing will have to happen tomorrow, even though that means it'll be rushed tomorrow and kill my schedule. Can't... Move... Just... Now.... x_X Will read another couple chapters of the Crossroads manga (so nostalgic!), sip some more water, and pass the hell out XP
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....
May 10 at 4:50pm
And now I just have to get moving and repacking so I can get drving! haaaaa did I ever mention how tedious repacking is? bah XD well, best get to it. I'll check in again once I get to Colorado! Hopefully I'll have reliable wireless there, but if not, I'll at least mobile update that I got there safe! Toodles!
Wednesday at 6:20am via Mobile Web
and just when you were starting to think all cross-country drives were similiar and tedious.... pulled over! would-be hitchhiker who also asked me for weed! blizzard! trapped in a Wyoming town with no roads out! Find out what what happens in the next installment of blahblahblah... but now, SLEEP! at a motel 6 waiting for the roads to hopefully be open tomorrow >_> night all! ♥
Added comment on Wednesday at 1:57pm: and ahhhh figures. slept so, so fitfully and woke up with -every- noise, and then 30 minutes before my alarm went off I went into the good, restful sleep and then had to jump up and now I'm all jittery XD but oh well! check out's in an hour and I have this convenient shower thing here, so, awake I shall be! XD
Wednesday at 3:21pm via Mobile Web
ok! roads are open, I'm checked out of the hotel, and I'll be in Colorado Springs in four hours! XD
Yesterday Thursday May 13th at 8:50pm via Mobile Web
Learned to Faux Paint today, and got paid for it! Then babysitting Ace, who is adorable, and who has been zonked out in my lap for the last 2 episodes or so of Yo Gabba Gabba! XD
2 hours ago on Friday May 14th
Best quote I've read all day, but does not fit in my status:
Senor Casey Kirk says: "People use the term "living life" to justify making a series of bad choices and potentially dangerous ones. When in reality, living life is really us finding out the best choices for ourselves. Ones that will bring us positive people into our lives, mold us into our future selves, and ultimately help us to live happily for a longer term. This is what comes to my mind at 5:15 a.m. in the shower :P" And he's absolutely right. =D
2 hours ago on Friday May 14th
And also, here's that update I've been promising you guys and am finally able to get to you!
OK! So. All about the drive. Hopefully this won't wind up being too long, for all of our sakes XD Well, ok, for mine, since there are still, apparently, a few of you who enjoy reading the long ones. Anywho!
So I left Zoey's house around 8 PM after very meticulolusly repacking and reorganizing my car, and went to fill up the gas tank. The very next thing I did was spill water in my lap. Didn't even get outta town first. Geez. Ah well. Coulda changed. Didn't. It dried eventually XD Oh, also, I was later very glad I wore jeans and not shorts when leaving for this venture. Still was in a tank top and flip flops though. Just so you have that in mind.
Also, I mentioned Oregon's littering signs a while back, but feel the need to give Washington's a spotlight too. I forget the exact wording, but it was "Don't litter. It will hurt." or "Litter, and it will hurt." or something to that effect. I'm sure they'll tell you it's the environment that'll be in pain, but I bet it you and your wallet even more so ;) Idaho had a funny one too. "Idaho is too great to litter." or some such. Ahaha.
Drove through Washington for a while, and was alllllmost out of the state, when... red and blue lights. Pulled out of the median just for me. Fack. I didn't think I was going more than 10 over though... or maybe 15... was praying it was just the headlight being out, and that he didn't tack on the speed too... because even though everybody else was passing me and I was mostly just trying not to get runned over, ya still can't argue that with a cop, 'cuz you were still speeding. Ha, and then he was tapping on my passenger side window and I had to lean over and open the door because the window doesn't open XD
He wound up not mentioning speed at all, and kindly informed me that my headlight was out, and double-checked for me which one it was, just to make sure I knew which one to fix. Ha, and then he asked for proof of insurance. Which I realized was in my other purse. In the trunk. Luckily, he decided he could just run the car info and get it later. Very nice man, actually, this Washingtonian accented cop. Who is the only person I met in Washington with an accent at all XD So I asked his opinion about what I should do since I had just started my super long drive to Colorado, like whether I should stop and get a hotel and get it fixed in the AM, or just get where I'm going and get it fixed there. He debated this for a moment, and decided I should be fine since my GPS was keeping me on the more major highways. Good man.
So off I was again! I don't actually remember what state I was in when I stopped to sleep... hmmm.... oh well. It was cold, anyway. So I got through Oregon, and into Idaho, where I stopped at a rest stop where a guy and his dog were chillin at the picnic tables, and the dog ran over to me so I pet it, and it totally gave the guy an opening to start up a conversation. Which I didn't mind, really. Long drive with nobody to talk to and all. Then he asked is they could get a ride as far as Wyoming. He had pretty eyes and was harmless, but on principle I was still glad of the excuse that I didn't have room for an extra PERSON in my car, let alone a person, his few belongings, and his dog. Ha, and as soon as I turned him down he shrugged it off and asked if I had any weed he could buy off me. I was amused. Laughed and told him no, and went off to the bathrooms. Felt a little bad leaving him there because it was cold and windy and rainy/sleety, but not bad enough to change my mind, but was still glad to see that in the 5 minutes I was in the bathroom, someone else had pulled up and agreed to give him a ride. And that was that!
And then. I crossed over into Wyoming.... and then it started to snow. And then sleet. And then snow HARD. But it was okay, I couldn't really see that well, but it wasn't sticking to the roads, so oh well! And then I crossed some invisible line, and the road was suddenly slushy, and then it was sticking GOOD. So I pulled off at a truck stop to fill up the tank and take one last potty break, because I figured I wouldn't be able to stop again until I was out of the storm. And in this parking lot, all the cars were covered in 4 inches of snow. And I stepped out of my car, in flip flops... into 3 inches of melty cold slush. Ugh. So not fun. Then I stood there and shivered violently while the gas pumped, and my brain was a repetitive mantra of "Fuck my life, fuck my life, it's fucking cold, fuck my life..." and so on. AGH. Ha, and then I barely made it back up the on ramp. But I did, bahaha. My little mazda thinks it's a 4-wheel drive that can run with the big boys, and I have a tendency to tell her she can do anything if she has the determination and willpower to pull it off ;P So I spent the next 6 hours navigating the road less than 10 feet at a time, constantly shifting my view from the tire tracks in the road to the 2 lines of reflectors that you really had to pay attention to where they were leading so you didn't wind up veering towards the exits on accident, and if I was lucky, a pretty set of red tail lights in front of me. I quickly decided it was a good idea to drive behind the big trucks because the road was clearer there, and also that I would pull off and let them pass me so I could go as slow as I felt comfortable going. Which was always a dilemma because I had to keep enough momentum to get up the uphill bits on the mountain roads, but also had to go slow enough to have reaction time in case I started sliding, because not all of the drop-offs have guard rails, just the ones with more than a 1-2 story fall.
Off and on there would be other smallish cars and hatchbacks on the road, and we would wind up in a sort of caravan, following eachother and pulling off all together whenever a big truck would come by, because when they pass you, they throw so much snow and ice and your car that you can't see AT ALL for a good 10 seconds. Which is deadly if you're going more than 10 mph, so... we weren't XD Biggest caravan was 4 cars long, but they always broke up within an hour or so. All the places to pull off and stop were full up with big and little cars both, but we were determined. (And really, I couldn't stop, or I'd get stuck. Like, would take at least a full day to dig out after spending all night in the freezing cold kind of stuck, and who the hell wants to be trapped at a truck stop or rest stop for any length of time? So I couldn't stop until I was out of the storm. Said me.) At some point I ran out of wiper fluid to break up the ice on the wipers, and so that wasn't so great, and then towards the end of the 6 hours a truck passed by and threw a tons of really dirty water at my window, that mostly froze there. I could still see, but it was amazingly annoying.
So I finally, finally, FINALLY, with an extreme headached from concentrating so hard for so long, made it to where I had to switch highways (although I still had 3 1/2 hours of driving left to go, it was an achievement!) and the storm had let up a LOT, but the roads were still horrible. So I got off on the exit that went through Laramie, Wyoming and connected to the next highway, drove on through... and the road I needed was closed. Fak. So I tried to find a place to clean my window, stopped at a gas station... and couldn't get out of my car. My door was frozen shut. AGH. Very awkwardly crawled out the passenger side, walked around to the cleaner station... and the people hadn't actually filled it with cleaner, so it was just a frozen solid squeegee. I was so mad. So I crawled back in my car and headed back to the road I was on.... only to find out that it, too, was closed. And therefore, there was really no way out of town. And then the ice on the roads hit the danger zone for real, and I totally spun out in an intersection. It's pretty bad when you're going 5 mph and still lose control of your steering.
So after finding my way back across town to the affordable lodging (Motel 6 for 39.99 is exponentially better than comfort inn for 89.99. wrong side of town my ass), which took forever going 5 mph, I grabbed my stuff and checked in, talked to the night clerk girl about the crazy psycho man that had just called asking about reservations, and headed up to my room that had 2 beds in it, just for me XD Checked my facebook like an addict, texted my mom and Brian to let them know I was indeed not going to be in Colorado that night, and went to sleep. Woke up with every little thing, including the fairly quiet heater going on or off, and also what I swore was a knock on the door but nobody was there when I finally got up to check, and then when I was fiiiiiinally sleeping good, it was shower and checkout time. BAH.
Was a minute and 30 seconds late for checkout, which made the day shift clerk lady laugh and send me on my merry way, and then I knocked the ice and snow I could out of my tire wells and hit the road, which completely looked like it had never been horrible in the first place. I was impressed.
Finally made it to the Springs 4 hours later, and chilled with Brian and Ace (and Brian's twin sisters) until Natalie got home. Oh and also Brian's cat Skwisgaar =P Who is a bengal cat and spotted, and therefore awesome. Then we went out for a late dinner after they put Ace to bed (the girls were home in case he woke up), and wound up at a Denny's-ish place they have a chain of out here called Village Inn. I was supremely glad that we picked that one over IHOP and Denny's, because without even reading the rest of the menu, I found this pick 4 deal they had an insert for. And fell in love with it. Oh man. There were like 25 things to choose from, and I could have any 4 for $7, or a 5th for an extra 70 cents. And they weren't just small sad little things either! I wound up with a loaded strawberry and sweet creme crepe, and 2-egg cheese omelette, a biscuit with gravy, and a bowl of fruit. So full, but it was SO GOOD. And then. AND THEN. I found another insert. Free slice of pie with any purchase every Wednesday. AND IT WAS WEDNESDAY. Best meal out ever! XD Had to take the pie home though after one bite cuz I was so stuffed already. Strawberry rhubarb!
Then home and sleep, and got up early this morning to go WORK! Haha, Natalie's been working a side job helping out some friends of hers who are remodeling a dentist's office with the painting, and said they let her bring whoever she wanted along to help and they'd pay them too! So I was alll for it! $15 an hour, for the win. It was killer getting up because I still haven't gotten any real sleep from the drive, and then when Natalie told me they only needed me for half a day I almost decided it wasn't worth losing sleep over, but I went anyway because I'm broke, and it was TOTALLY worth it! I learned a new skill, had FUN with it, and got PAID for it! Then we broke for lunch and I got the feeling they actually wouldn't have minded me staying on the rest of the day at all, but Brian and Natalie needed someone to babysit Ace, so we figured I'd go back after lunch and help out. Which my money-grubbing side struggled with a little, but whatever! I'm on vacation and Ace is friggin adorable, so I was happy to look after him for a while :)
So for lunch we went to this Asian buffet, which was fantastic, and it had PEACH BUNS! oh man. so good. and so cute! (I'll post a picture AS SOON as I manage an internet connection, promise!) Got to know the crew a little better now that we weren't all working, and they're actually really neat people! I had a lot of fun and felt good about getting a day of good work accomplished. Also, I've discovered I actually rather enjoy painting :) Haha and I made $47 after buying lunch, so all around not bad!
Then I went back to the apartment so Brian could leave for work, and spent the next 3 hours or so just chillin' with Ace until the girls got home :) And then I played with him until he finally gave in to being so tired for 2+ hours that he didn't know what to do with himself, and fell asleep in my lap. Let him be for an hour or two and then put him in his crib so i could start typing this ^_^ Natalie got home an hour or so later, and evidently things had gotten a little crazy after lunch with the painting job, and they told her she should call me back because I was good at it and they needed help. (Because I'm a fast learner and yes, my ego is muchly inflated. But ya know what? Compliments like that my first time ever painting, let alone faux painting? I'm allowed ♥ ) Haha but that would've left no babysitter, so they were out of luck =P
Annnnd tonight Natalie cooked a fabulous tofu curry dinner, with sides of chick peas and spinach. All so delicious. Yummmmm. And now I'm caught up! Huzzah! Now. How to get this from my laptop to you guys on facebook with no internets. I barely even have a phone signal here XD Bah. I'll find a way! It will probably include a flash drive and posting it from Brian and Natalie's computer, but it'll get done! :P Til next time, all :)
And since that was typed up last night and saved in word until I could post it, that puts my updates a day behind! But today is easily summed up by: Jack In The Box for breakfast, chillaxin for the rest of the day, and have finally commandeered Brian and Natalie's internet connection, but have plugged it into my laptop so I can maybe upload ... See Morepictures now finally. But expect those tomorrow, because they'll take a while to get organized since I'm so far behind! :)
Now to get this e-mail and picture stuff done while Natalie and Brian are working and the twins are watching Ace :)
2 seconds ago
Ok! Spent the last few hours gathering all my status updates and posting them in an organized form into my livejournal, and e-mailing copies of it to the people who have neither facebook or LJ who wanted to know what's been up. So if any of you enjoy reading all of my updates but miss things, you can either jump over to my LJ (link in first comment) or comment/message me your e-mail and I'll forward you the e-mails.
Comment: Ha, I need to change my journal layout, it's been this one forever... anyone know how to make good ones who'd be willing to help me out?
http://kellivara.livejournal.com/
++(And that's all, folks! See ya on the flip side! ^_~)++