UPDATE!

Hello, folks! As you may have noticed, this is more than just a weekend update. Why? Well, I've been lax in my blogging duties as of late. I mean, it's not like I post important stuff or anything, but hey, someone out there may care! : )

I forgot to tell you last week, but October 16th was my Blog's birthday. Well, at least the birthday of when I could actually make it work. Yay! Happy birthday Bloggie!

This week has been such a pain, but for different reasons than normal. Monday I went to the printing studio and almost completely finished my newest project. I had planned it out on my computer before actually going in to complete it, so it was easier than normal. Well, that, and I had a seperate stencil for each layer rather than having to manipulate the same one for each print. By Tuesday I had to redo a couple of layers because of a color problem, but I finally finished it. It wasn't due till November 11th, so now I have a little time to play around with a print I just want to do. Hopefully I'll get it completed and it will look like I think it will. Screen printing is by far my favorite of all of the classes I'm taking now. Speaking of all of the classes I'm taking now, none of my teachers turned in Mid Term grades. None of them! I have no idea where I stand in at leat two of them, and I'm scared to know what my GPA is. It seems like we haven't taken enough grades this semester to really make a difference. I'm especially scared of my Graphics course because I know I've made at least one C, and he hated my last project too. SIGH. I'm gonna be a call center agent forever!
Oh, and another thing. Guess who didn't show up for class again today? Tom McDougal! I mean, this is the fourth time he's just not shown up. I used to not care, but being reminded that I did pay for this class, I'm starting to get a little peeved. If I didn't like the teacher so much I'd say something to the dean. We've had 3 grades taken in this class so far, and none of them were anything more than quizes. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad this is better than a teacher who is so strict and straight laced that we are constantly doing something for the class, but I really like Mr. McDougal and his way of teaching. I hate that HE is the one teacher always missing class!

This weekend wasn't as productive as it should have been. Steve was gone to visit the family in GA and I was left to my own devices. I had all of this stuff planned to do (cleaning mostly, but I need to wrap christmas gifts and stuff) and I got jack done. I was completely narcoleptic. I'd sit down to read and doze off. The most productive thing I did on saturday was play The Sims 2 and get one of my characters a job. Sunday was a little better. I did laundry, took a nap, visited my parents, took a nap, and made dinner for myself. I thought Steve would be in a lot earlier than he was, but he was helping Greg do some kind of computer thing, so I didn't see him before I went to bed. Apparently I didn't see him, but I still talked to him. He said I was mean...heh heh heh. I told him that "if he woke up wearing pajamas, it wasn't my fault!" I guess I was dreaming about The Sims.

Speaking of The Sims, I'm an unfit mother. : ( I had a family with a son who was in elementary school, and I forgot to send him to school one day. I didn't mean to, I just didn't hear the bus pull up in front of the house. By the time I did notice it, it pulled away from the house. I got a little dialog box that said "Pheonix missing school causes him to lose a grade point. Another miss will cause a visit from a social worker." So from then on, I tried hard to keep that kid in school. He was doing pretty well until there was a fire in the kitchen one morning before he was about to leave. When there is a fire, the cleanliness level of these characters drops a HUGE amount, but since he didn't have any other problems than being dirty, I sent him to school anyways. I saw the kid get on the bus, so I didn't think anything of it. When I went back to the parents, they were on the couch kissing like teenagers (yes, that can happen). All of a sudden, I see the little boy go into the bathroom and jump into the shower. The parents hadn't noticed him come in, them being otherwise occupied, but apparently he took it upon himself to skip school to take a bath. So while he's in the shower, this lady walks into the house and over to the parents (who are still kissing, by the way) and just stares at them. The little kid gets out of the shower, changes clothes, and gets into the social workers van outside. I'm doing everything I can to keep the kid in the house, but it didn't work. I have some kind of bug in my game that sometimes keeps me from controling the characters, so I couldn't get the parents to quit kissing. Then the lady takes off with the kid, and now the parents walk around occasionally bursting into tears because they miss their son. I can't believe I got the kid reposessed by the social worker! Ugh.

You know what? I almost forgot my weekend update! NO!!!!!!!!

Friday was a long sleepy day. I actually, for no apparent reason, woke up at 3:30AM and couldn't go back to sleep. I was going to just lie there, but I got restless and went ahead and got up. The dogs were confused when I let them out, but I knew they'd have a fit if I was up and not letting them out of their kennels. So with that taken care of, I played Sims 2 until it was time to get ready for school. I noticed while I was sitting there that I was so sore all over, and I started to get worried that I was getting the flu (no shot for me)! However, I realized that it wasn't because I was sick, but because I had been so tense while working on that stupid screenprint that I strained my muscles. How stupid is that? I strained my muscles while basically using a stencil. I reeeeeeeeeeally need to get to the gym more often! By the end of the day, I was a wreck. I was so tired, but I had stuff I had to do. Honestly, I don't even remember what I did the rest of the day on Friday, I just remember being glad to go to sleep.

Saturday was a blissful didn't-have-to-work-day. I slept late and kept waking up and thinking "wow, I need to let the dog out" but dozing off again without doing it. Bless Steve, he had done it for me, so when I heard them barking, I knew I could keep sleeping. Of course, by then I was awake, so I got up, cleaned the kitchen and dining room, had breakfast, and sat down to watch TV for a while. It was weird not having to go anywhere, but I liked it!! I ended up getting a bad headache around 2:00 or so and went to lie down for a while. I fell asleep again, and when I woke up and looked at the clock, it said 2:45. I panicked! I apparently blocked out the whole morning because I thought I had been asleep the whole time! I thought "THE DOGS!! I haven't let the dogs out!" So I jumped up and ran to the bedroom door before I realized...Um, Self, you're an idiot. : ) I think I may have watched more TV, but I'm not sure. Steve got home and we rented some movies and got Wendy's for dinner. It was a really nice day!

Sunday morning was busy. I was supposed to sing in morning services and we were having our fall picnic that afternoon, so I spent the beginning of the morning cooking, ran upstairs to sing (which everyone said I did well - I don't know if I agree) and then ran back downstairs to cook some more and then we went to the picnic. It was lots of fun, but we didn't stay long. It was freaking COLD! Steve and I came home and took a nap, and then we watched a movie and just hung out after that. All in all, it was a nice weekend. I'm glad I didn't have to work! Yay!

Oh! I have a job for you guys. I'm trying to think of a hard question to give Nelson, the Super Engineer to see if I can stump him. He's the one who answers all the questions on the "Why" section of my webpage. I'm determined, but I need help! If you can think of one, send it to me! : )

GOOD DAYS/BAD DAYS

Sigh.

First off, I want to say I'm blessed beyond my wildest dreams and I know intellectually, physically, and rationally that I shouldn't feel discouraged about anything. However my emotional side (which I have to admit talks louder than all those other guys most days) is demanding I get frustrated about some stuff, so I'm going to vent.

Actually, there isn't THAT much to vent about. I think it's just the fact that some really irritating stuff happened all in a row and the cumulative effect is worse than the actual stuff! : ) Fear not, though! I am going to find solutions to these problems so that they don't build up on me.

Of course, my last entry talked all about the tragic screen printing incident last night. You guys, I'm just sick over it! It would be one thing if I could just go back in and do it all over in an hour or so, but it's way more complicated than that. You've heard the term "breaking the mold"? Well, technically, this is what you're doing with a screen print. You're slowly and methodically destroying your stencil as you keep printing. By the time I was done last night, I didn't have a stencil left. So I can't start over and have the same picture I want to do. On my way in, though, I thought of something I could do to make it look better. I mean, it can't be fixed, but it might hide the worst of my problem. I'm going to talk to my teacher about it tonight to see what he thinks. I may have used too much ink on it already, though, and it might make the problem worse.

Thing two was that when I got home last night I still had to finish my graphics project and I was up until 1:30 this morning trying to get it to print. Not only would it not print right, but when I could get it to print at all, it was so dark you couldn't see any detail. My teacher is going to crucify me in critique today. I DID save it as a PDF, so I'm going to ask if I can also turn it in electronically too so he can see what its supposed to look like.

Number three is that I ordered a beautiful pair of boots and I've been excited about getting them. I got them in yesterday and wouldn't you know it? The stupid things have zippers on them instead of being the kind you just pull on. I can't get them past my calves. Apparently, I don't have calves, I have full grown cows. I can't find a pair of those boots that I can zip all the way up! So if anyone knows where I can get a pair of those knee high boots that will fit people with big calves, let me know!! It's no problem to return them, but the fact is I have to return them. : ( They're so pretty!!!!!!!!

Anyways, in the grand scheme of things, these problems aren't that bad. I know this. I just wish they wouldn't have happened in a span of six hours. On a lighter note, I did get to watch some of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Indiana Jones can always make me feel better! ; )

How do you spell frustrated? Me? I spell it HOURS AND FREAKING HOURS OF WORK ON THAT STUPID PROJECT AND IT'S RUINED!!!!!!!!!!

If I didn't have that little shred of self control, I would have jumped off of the Art Building. I have been working so hard on this screen printing project. I even started it over once because I wasn't satisfied with the earlier results. In all, I worked on it about 17 hours. Well, tonight while I was working on it, some adhesive from one of my stensils stuck my paper to the stupid screen, making the ink smear all over the picture. So I tried another one, and the same thing happened to a lesser degree. On the other 9 prints, that same stupid section either smeared or got lines in it. I ended up having to throw two of the prints away, and my very pretty print is now a piece of garbage that I have to turn in for a grade. I don't think any of the curse words I know can express my irritation and frustration at this moment. I mean, it's RUINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost cried. In school.

Grrrr.

And I'm still not done with that graphics project that's due tomorrow.

Double Grrrr.

TIME TO LET GO

Don't you just love the feeling you get when you decide you have to make a change in your life, and you become determined to do it? I do. Over the course of this weekend I took a deep look at some things in my life, and I've become determined to - clean out my inner closet - so to speak. It's was kind of a scary thought at first, but the more I've thought about it and prayed about it, it has sort of become a relief as well.

I used to pride myself on never staying mad at anyone for a long time. In fact, I had a few people tell me that it was hard to stay mad at me because I could come in the next day and act as if nothing had happened at all. Of course, they thought that was weird, but to me, nothing had ever been bad enough to harbor inside. Of course, while not keeping bad feelings inside, I would keep hurt inside. I'd hold on to that with both hands like a Little Debbie cake at a Lane Bryant fashion show. I suppose it all came down to not wanting anyone to see that part of me, because people came to me to feel better, and I didn't want them to think I was weak. So since I was about 14 years old, I've held all kinds of personal hurt inside. After letting that get to me for a while, I started holding other things inside. Every time someone hurt me, it was like I wrote it down and read it every day. Basically, I was being very pathetically self indulgent. At any rate, I never really thought about it much. It was a part of my life, and a part I let fester a little more every day. Whenever I thought about any of it, I just got a little more hurt or mad instead of letting it fade. I didn't let time heal any of those wounds.

Well, this past week, it hit me how dumb I have been. I've let people I haven't seen in years, who haven't done things to me in years, eat away at me a little at a time. It all began when I found out a girl whom I'd been best friends with from Jr. high to high school, although we hadn't been close for the past couple of years, got married and I wasn't invited. In fact, when I had seen her a couple of months ago and she told me she was engaged, she acted like she really didn't want to give me any details about her wedding at all. I don't know why I let that bother me, since like I said, we haven't been close lately, but I did. It took a conversation with a very smart person to get me to see it all in the right perspective, and realize that people move on. It was then that I realized that I wasn't moving on at all. In fact, it seemed like I was dwelling more on the past these days than thinking about the present. How embarrassing! When this realization sunk in I just stopped everything and prayed that I would be able to just let go. I want to let go of all the hurt and bad feelings that I've been holding on to all of this time and I don't ever want to see it again. I want to be able to forgive all of the people who have hurt me or made me angry. I also realized that I needed to do what God told us to do and pray for those who hurt you or despitefully use you. It's hard to feel animosity towards someone you're praying for, I've come to realize. So far, so good, although it's only been a few days, but I'm hoping that eventually I can hear these names or see these people and not think bad thoughts.

I didn't tell you this to get a pat on the back or to make you think I'm such a GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD person, 'cause quite frankly that's not true. What I want from you is for you to pray for me so that I don't fall back into that rediculous way of thinking and living. I really don't want to be that way again, and I can't do it on my own.

I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but I bought this after seeing it on an infomertial a couple of months ago. I don't normally buy stuff that I see on TV unless it's something I can get at Target or Wal-Mart, but something about that chubby woman hawking this thing made me want it so bad. Luckily I had some student loan money left, and after thinking about it for a month or so, I finally ordered it. I have to say that it is a really great little appliance! If you don't have a whole lot of room or a whole lot of time for cooking, it's worth it. The only thing that bothers me is that everything comes out in a semi-circular shape. I know that's just asthetic and it doesn't make the food taste any different, but shaped food bothers me. It's like making everything you eat in a muffin tin. Anyways, I got it and it's great. I can make little semi circular cakes in 7 minutes, semi-circular pizzas, semi-circular hamburger pies (see the back of a bisquick box), and all kinds of other stuff. Just thought I'd mention it.

I still can't believe I bought something from an infomertial.

So, Martha Stewart went to jail this morning. According to this Article, Martha Stewart reports to West Virginia prison - Oct. 8, 2004, she is in a place referred to as "Camp Cupcake".

FREE MARTHA!!!!!!!!!!!!


A moment of silence, please.

Sign I've worked in the call center too long:

I dialed 9 on the microwave before I entered my time.

Thank goodness I realized this before I turned it on!

So tired. Want to sleep, but don't have time.

Updated my website. Not a major change, but added a few things.

Sleep? Please? Bueller? Anyone?

Bought boots today and almost paid off credit card.

No more student loan for me.

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep......

Some of this was written last friday...I just didn't get a chance to finish it.

FRIDAY:
Anyone want to read the absolute best reporting on the presidential debate last night? Go here: al.com: Weblogs. It was live blogging by your favorite Kenny and mine, who in my opinion, is the only person who makes politics interesting. Take that, Dan Rather!!!

I'm sitting here at work trying to install Adobe Creative Suite on my laptop in between calls. I realized in class yesterday that I probably won't get many chances to be in the computer lab, so I broke down and used part of the last dregs of my student loan to buy it. All I have to say, is that we better not get word that the Graphics Department is moving to PC. I'll kill someone with my bare hands!

MONDAY:
Weekend Update!

Friday morning, I couldn't get myself started. I was really late for class. I felt bad because by the time I got there, Tom had already started his lecture. I went to him after class and apologized, and it turns out he didn't even realize I had been late. Then I felt kind of dumb for thinking he'd care if I was late or not. Oh well, I felt bad, so I apologized. So, there. Friday night was kind of a bust for everyone, I found out. I was going to the print lab to wash out my new screen (which I think I screwed up, by the way) and I ended up staying a few extra minutes to test out my new stencil. I was supposed to meet Steve and everyone at McAllister's and I ended up being the first one there. Everyone else was going to the Cornfield Maze, and I was going home to work on a project someone asked me to do. See, I hate going into cornfield mazes because I can't find my way out. When I can't find my way out, I start to get claustrophobic and then I start to panic. I know people think I have major issues because there are so many things I can't do because I get claustrophobic, but if they had that problem like I do, there would be a lot of things they couldn't do too! Anyways, it ended up that no one went because the rest of the crew couldn't get their plans straight. SIGH.

Saturday I ended up sleeping really late and waking up to play my Sims 2 game, which I'm completely addicted to. When Steve got up, we went to Lowes to get some stuff to landscape with, and we worked in the yard for a while. Steve wasn't feeling well, so he wasn't able to do much. I only got one corner of our flower bed done, but at least that part is done. I'm hoping we can get all of the other stuff done before it gets cold. Otherwise we are going to have a lot of dead bushes on our hands. Steve got to feeling better later and watched some football game with some buddies, while I stayed home and worked on my art project and played Sims 2 some more.

Sunday was lazy. Church in the morning, got groceries in the afternoon, slept until early evening, woke up feeling sick, watched TV until we went to bed. Kind of nice after the hectic week, but I don't feel like I acomplished very much.

Today got off to a pretty good start. Our teacher wasn't able to have class today (and I didn't find this out until I got to school) so I went to Target and bought a few things. I got kind of annoyed while looking for a bra. Now, if you get embarrassed by reading about women's underwear...stop right here.

When I was wearing a bigger size, I could never find a bra in my size that didn't look like some kind of lacy harness. I mean seriously, just because you are a big girl, doesn't mean you want to wear reinforced steel halter tops, you know what I'm saying? Well, now that I've gone down a little (just barely), I can't even find my size most of the time, but I keep running across all of the really pretty bras in the size I USED to be. SIGH. It isn't fair!!!!

Anyways, so I'm off to do some work and then go to the print lab. JOY!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

I've got the perfect example of why you should take artists seriously:

Adolph Hitler.

See, he was an artist who couldn't sell his work. No one took him seriously as an artist. Look what happened. Of course, it probably helped that he was possessed by the demons of hell, too.

So the next time you start to make a "do you want fries with that" joke or pass by a street vending artist, remember...you say the wrong thing and BAM!!!! We have a new furher on our hands.

Weekend Update!

Well, the weekend is over and I survived another one. I had planned on it being a lazy weekend, but I was wrong!

Friday after work I went to Home Depot to get some landscaping supplies. Steve and I want to try and make out yard look nicer due to the sheer bleakness of our yard when compared to everyone else on our street. I was able to get those edging stones (42 feet worth) and a Garden Hound, which is a priceless, manual, tilling thingie. I can't really explain it better than that. Anyways, mom had called and invited me to come stay with them friday since Steve was in GA, but I had to go home and take care of the puppies. I had dinner and started doing laundry, which if you read my entry from Friday then you'd know what an adventure that was, and I ended up staying up until about 1:00 AM. I'm too old to stay up that late!!!!

Saturday I woke up early and started working on the landscaping. I've never set up edgers before, but I don't think I did too bad of a job. I totally had a groove going until I hit a pocket of spiders and was forced to quit due to getting the complete heebs. I couldn't decide whether or not they were grass spiders or brown recluse spiders, and I didn't want to take the chance of getting bitten and ending up with volcanic leasions on my immediate personage. I put everything away and got on Google, to find out what kind they were. Unless I am mistaken, I found a nest of wolf spiders. One the size of a quarter. *SHUDDER* I would have had to stop anyway because I was going to have lunch with my mom, dad and brother at their house, and then I was going on to Lee and Rhonda's to mow the lawn. So I did that, and it was after dark before I got home. I ended up renting Mean Girls, which was hilarious, and doing more laundry. Fun stuff.

Sunday I slept late and ended up missing class, but I did make it in time for the service. I went to my parents house again for lunch, and then I came back home to do dishes and more laundry. I didn't get even half of what I needed to do done, believe it or not. Steve came home later that evening, and I spent the rest of the time listening to his weekend stories.

I think I'm going to have to impose a "Doing Stuff" hiatus on myself until this semester is over. This means no trips away from Huntsville (unless I see that I have a break in school/housework), no going out unless I have everything done that needs to be done, and weekends I'm not working will be delegated to working on the house and yard. SIGH!

SIGH

Knowing the truth isn't always as fun as the fantasy one tells themselves, is it?

@!%&@! truth...

THAT'S NOT A BLOG, IT'S A SPACE STATION...

OK, can you guess what I've been watching this week? Heeheehee

Steve FINALLY got his DVD versions of the original Star Wars trilogy and we've watched the heck out of the special features. I can't believe that I lasted as long as I did, but some of those things are really interesting. It's funny to find out about all the famous people who auditioned for the parts and to hear how the characters and sound effects were thought up. George Lucas is truly a very talented man. I just wish he'd leave well enough alone, though. The next thing you know, he'll have replaced everything with computer animation. SIGH.

Did I tell you that my Graphics II teacher is apparently a male version of Lois Lane? The other day I was standing in the hallway(with my glasses pushed up on my head) and he passed by. I smiled and said hello, but he kind of just looked at me and walked past without saying anything. When we got into class later on, I put my glasses back on and he looked at me and said "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to be rude, but I didn't know who you were without your glasses." I was all....uh, okay. "You'll never guess my secret identity..." Now, I know I look goofy in my glasses, but I also know that they don't completely obliterate my face. I thought that was just funny!

Steve and I had our pictures made for the church directory last night. We got to see the digital proofs and amazingly enough, the pictures turned out great! We got a whole lot of the prints to spread around the family. Lucky them, huh? Hey, you don't know, you may be getting one in your christmas card!!!! ; )

I've been trying to gather all of the laundry since this is the first time since school started that I've had time to do that, and I have to ask this question. When cleaning your home, is it a bad sign when you have to treat it like an archeological dig? Seriously, I'm finding things in layers. For example "Oh, here is the shirt that I haven't seen since July..." Ugh, I've got my work cut out for me!!!

I finally went and got the edging stones so that we can begin working on our landscaping. Who knows if it will look good or not, but doggone it, I'm going to do it or die trying. To start off, I bought 42 feet worth of red, scalloped, edging bricks. I was hoping not to have to get anything scalloped, but I didn't have much of a choice. I wish I could get some stones for a retaining wall, but I couldn't afford it this time. Well, maybe I can do that later.

You know what? I want to start a society called PETC or Pet-C. That stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Celebrities. Seriously, I've just realized how low the media will go due to the latest Britney Spears marriage-or whatever. Now, I'm not a huge Britney fan, but I have begin to feel sorry for her simply because people will not leave her alone. It's bad enough when you can't even have your wedding because too many people are snapping pictures and hanging on to the fences surrounding the church or whatever, but when they all argue about whether or not they are legally married...jeez, it's too much. You know, if she wasn't famous, and her and her redneck fiance wanted to get married, they could have just had the ceremony in the backyard of her trailer. No one would have cared one iota. Well, except for maybe that guy she had been married to a few months earlier. He would have been outside her lot, sitting on the bed of his pickup, drunk, hollering "But Britney, I still loooooooooooove you...". It's always sad to me when people with white trash tendancies don't have the proper outlets, you know?

Anyways, back to the washing machine...

Betazed, anyone?

I have no idea if I spelled that right. Trekkies, forgive me.

For my birthday, Steve bought me a book called "The Secret Lives of Bees" which had a character in it who felt everyone's pain. Anytime she heard of anything that made anyone sad, she felt it as if it were her burden as well. It was so bad that she had to have her own version of a Wailing Wall, where she would go when she was sad. She wrote down what bothered her and stuck the paper between the stones, and that helped her get through it.

When I read that, with exception of the wall, I realized that I am that way and I hate it.

I know this will sound crazy to anyone who reads this (either of you), but when I hear of sad things - like the seige in the school in Russia, or about someone who is sick, or if someone loses a loved one - I hurt so bad and I find myself crying over people I don't even know. Today we watched a bit of a PBS special in class about slavery, and they showed a mother crying because her child had been sold. I almost burst into tears, but I don't know why. I know that stuff happened, but when I saw that little clip of film (yes, even realizing it wasn't real) it felt like a child of my own was being taken away. It's weird. Maybe it's some kind of harmonal imbalance, but jeez, I wish it would stop. Talk about being empathetic...more like just pathetic.

SIGH.

WEEKEND UPDATE!

Yes, it's that time again. Monday afternoon when I finally have time to tell you about my weekend. Aren't you excited?

Friday Steve and I went to dinner with his parents, to see them before they left on their trip. We had dinner and went back to their house to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. They also gave us the souviners that they picked up for us in Minnesota while they were there for a PSA convention. They are awesome people!

Saturday Steve and I had been invited to a wedding, so we went to the Chaple On the Mountain and saw Stephanie Avery (a girld Steve had worked with at Sci-Quest) and Lance Mclaughlin get married. It was a sweet wedding. It was held in a tiny chaple that might seat about 40 people (if that many) with big stained glassed windows. I kind of got the idea that something went wrong, though. When the bride came in, we stood- as one is supposed to do at that time- but the preacher never told us to sit. So here we are, all standing during the ceremony. I also noticed that the preacher never asked them to light their unity candle. The whole ceremony lasted 8 minutes. We went from there to the reception site, which was at the Botanical Gardens Pavillion, and it wasn't even set up when we got there. I felt so bad! I suppose they didn't realize that the wedding wouldn't last that long, so they were scrambling to get everything done. It ended up looking really nice, but the wind was blowing things around like crazy. We didn't get to stay for very long because a bee flew up Steve's pants and stung him twice on the leg!!! Can you believe it? I laughted my head off, but not because he got stung. Just the thought of the bee flying into his pants was enough to kill me. I have to give him credit, though, he didn't freak out. He calmly told me that he was going to the bathroom to check out the stings and he calmly walked out and said we needed to go. He's such a trooper! Later of that day we went on a picnic to Green Mountain Nature Trail and we also went shopping. I had bought the new Sims 2 game, and we had to replace the video card in my computer because it wouldn't support the graphics. That night we had dinner with the gang and then I came home while Steve went to a movie with Greg. It was a great day. Steve and I hardly get to spend any time with one another these days, so it was like going out on a date! ; )

Sunday was busy too. We had the Note Burning ceremony at church to celebrate paying off the mortgage, and we also had a meal that afternoon. Since I am part of the hostess committee, I was downstairs cooking and decorating like a fiend. We finally got everything put together and it turned out great. I also had to get the scrapbook and bring it home to put in my first entry! Yay!

Remember when weekends used to be restful? When do I get a weekend from my weekend?

You know, a teeny part of me was a little disappointed that Ivan the Terrible wasn't as terrible as we thought he was going to be. I was curious to see what a hurricane was like. The rest of me, though, is content with the outcome. : )

I'm sitting here at work not doing anything today. We are super slow right now because people don't want to make plans this far in advance, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Yesterday I had to stop by Wal-Mart to get some glue and in the ramble around the store, I happened to pass the bread aisle, and it was completely stripped bare! I couldn't believe it!!! Why do people run out and buy bread at the first sign of bad weather? If someone can tell me, I'd appreciate it. I used to work at a grocery store and let me tell you, you see a whole new side of humanity during these "weather-related grocery store raids." People will tear your face off for a jug of milk or a loaf of bread. I even got yelled at once because there was only skim milk left in the case. A part of me hopes that the mean ones get home with their milk, and they have no power. That'll teach them to act like that!!!

We are going to dinner with Steve's parents tonight. They just got back from Wisconsin and they are about to leave on another trip out west, so we want to see them before they leave. We also have to buy a wedding gift for a wedding that's we're going to tomorrow. I can't believe that I forgot to do that before now! The main problem is that I have no idea where they are registered, so I'm just going to have to pick something at random and hope that it doesn't clash with their other stuff. What exactly is the etiquette on that? Do you not get them something if you don't know where they registered or do you get something and hope they can use it? Ah, who knows. I'm getting them something, though.

Well, I'm off! Have a great weekend!

I'm so freakin' tired. Why, oh why, isn't my work or school closed due to the hurricaine? Everything else is closed - other schools, businesses, even the Governor's office, but the Space and Rocket Center and UAH are still open. Darn them, darn them all to heck.

The reason for my tiredness? I got so busy last night that I forgot to set up my Mac workstation with printer and etc, so Steve and I get up at about midnight to do this. I needed to print some stuff from class, but while in the process of doing this I realized that the slightly different versions of my programs wreaked havoc with my design. I sat up until 2:00 this morning trying to fix these designs so that I could turn in the draft today. I am too old to stay up late!!!

Be proud of me, though! I went to the printing studio to work on my first project last night, and I got quite a bit of headway. 3 colors down, and about 3 to go. It took me four hours to do that much, so I'll be back in the studio on Friday night to see if I can finish it! Yay! I had never done a screenprint without the teacher there, but it went fairly smoothly. I didn't realize that it takes about 45 minutes to prepare to print, and about 5 minutes to actually do the printing. It was fun though.

I also had to get a tire fixed this morning because there were two nails stuck in it! I'm glad that it got fixed, because it drives a WHOLE lot better! : )

SIGH

The crossing guards hate me. For those of you that don't know, I live between an elementary school and a K-12 private school. When I get to the end of my street to turn on to the busier road, there is a crossing guard stationed to my right (in front of the elementary school) and to my left (at the intersection). I think they must have walkie talkies or something, because unless I leave at an ungodly hour of the morning to get to work, they block me in! It's insane. I'll look to my left and see a line of Hummers and BMWs, and what not, coming my way, while to my right everything is clear. When that line to my left finally clears, another line starts in from the right. Not only that, but each car is the exact distance apart to keep me from being able to squeeze in between lines! I can just hear those smug crossing guards talking into their Walkie-Talkies *static* "Red 5, this is Rebel Base. Rudolph the red nosed SUV is out. GO! GO! GO!".

Last night, my best laid plans were almost null. I went to school to prepare my screen for printing this week, and had Mr. Crouse not been there, I'd still be in that studio this morning. Here is how it works. You have to take your screen and coat it with photographic emulsion, which is the consistency of elmers glue. You take a long metal trough and fill it with this gluey stuff. Then you press it up against the screen and slide it up the screen, and according to the teacher this is supposed to leave an even, thin film behind. Well, I held the tough backwards and I got that emulsion everywhere. Not only that, but when I finally got the thing coated, and the teacher went in there with me to check on it, the excess stuff had oozed down the frame and pooled at the bottom, and when he picked it up, it got all over him. THEN you have to let it dry. THEN you take a piece of paper that is ultra-violet proof and slide it under the dry screen and put it all on this glass table and expose it to the UV light. THEN you take the screen, and where the paper was, you now have a soft spot that you have to hose clean. So you grab a garden hose with a sprayer attachment and hose that sucker down until the soft spot has been cleaned off. THEN you have to wait for the screen to dry again. THEN you draw a picture on your screen and once that is the way you like it, you can start printing. Apparently, I'm retarded when it comes to screen printing. I was only going to stay there an hour so I could swing by Target before going home and making dinner, but it took me two hours. I still went by Target to get some stuff, and then I went home. Steve had made dinner (awwwwwww.....) and after I ate, I was going to clean. That didn't happen either. I'm about to the point where I think the only way I'll get my house clean is to burn it down and build another one. Too bad I don't have the courage to be an arsonist!

Tonight I have class again (Graphics and Screenprinting) and I'm going to make myself clean the kitchen when I get home. Want to take bets on whether it will happen? ; )

WEEKEND UPDATE

This weekend was more full than it had a right to be. Friday I had school and work, of course, and after work I went to Rhonda and Lee's house to mow the lawn. I don't know what Mr. Lee put of the grass, but it's beautiful! I don't usually call grass beautiful because I believe it's just glorified weeds, but their grass is dark green, thick, and soft! I hated to cut it or even walk on it! : )

Saturday I had to work, of course, and then I went to the gym. I don't know if it's just me, or what, but I almost died on the Stair Master! Actually, it's my fault for not knowing what is considered a "level". I was punching in my weight (yikes) and it asked me what level I wanted to start at. I just randomly punched in a 6, because that sounded like a good middle number. Apparently I was at an advanced level that only people who are in reasonably good shape can get through without dying. I actually had to stop and hang on to the sides of the machine until I wasn't seeing spots. Then I turned the level down to 1 and was able to finish my time. I'm such a wimp. Also, just a word to those who don't know, walking down stairs after you've just put yourself through unusual amounts of physical activity, is hard. I almost fell down the stairs due to jelly-legs. How embarrassing would that be?! When I got back down to the locker room, I opened the door and lo and behold, there was a lady with her breast out feeding her baby sitting right there in the doorway. Now, don't get me wrong, breastfeeding your kids is fine, I just don't want to see it. I mean, come on, there is plenty of locker room available for you to do that in, must you sit in the doorway and do it? Jeez... I didn't know what to do! I just sort of ran past her. I wish I hadn't seen that. After I got home and ready again, we went to see Bill Engvall, the "Here's Your Sign" comedian. He was hilarious!!!!! I'd never seen a comedian in person before, and I really enjoyed it!

Sunday was just a weird day. I felt funny when I got up and while we were at church all I could think about was that I wanted to go home. I don't know what was wrong with me. I was at the point that I was almost in tears because I wanted to leave, but I have no idea why. I was able to make it through the service, but I practically ran out of the church and got into the Durango. Steve wanted to go to an Eagles picnic, and I hated to tell him I didn't want to go, so we went and had lunch and did a little bit of christmas shopping and went home. I was so glad to be home, and I didn't leave again for the rest of the day except to drive with Steve to get dinner. It was freaky. I hope that doesn't happen again.