Banner by Zaganuk

I hated to do this but more and more of my posts are being friend locked so I decided to take the last step and all new posts will be locked, simply friend me if you wish....Thanks!

Sometimes I really hate heredity. Of all the things my maternal grandmother could have given me did it have to be her tendency to always get Laryngitis?? You have to understand...I talk...alot....well all the time really, and having no voice (And I mean nothing, nada, have to pantomime everything to my co-workers gone) for anywhere from 4 days (the shortest it's ever lasted) to 7 days (the longest so far)is nothing short of sheer torture.

What's really bad is that my co-workers rather then feeling pity for me, tend to cheer loudly when it happens. My boss has cheered both mornings I've come in with nothing but a whisper, the owner laughed, the girls at the courthouse got a real kick out of it, and do you know how hard it is to go through a drive through with nothing but a croak?? Not to mention the interesting phone conversations I have during this time:

Me: You....called... (croaky voice like Kermit, but with less volume)
Dad: I was just calling to see if your better...
Me: Nuhhuh
Dad: Oh, well I just wanted to call and check on you, so you still feel bad?
Me: Mmmhmmmm
Moment of Dead Silence........................................
Dad: Well then I guess I'll let you go.....
Me: Mmmmmmm
Dad: Okay, get better bye.....
Me: MMMmmmm (Bye Bye in Hum language)

Sigh!! I want my voice back!!!!

10. Summer

I hate summer, I hate the heat, I hate the bugs, I hate the sun (which only results in sunburns for me, never a nice golden tan), I hate living in the South United States where normal temps are 100 plus, and have I mentioned yet I Hate Summer??? I sit here, in my fully air-conditioned office and thank the Lord above that I am not one of those unfortunate souls who works outside for a living, office jobs might be boring but due to the wonderful invention known as air conditioning, they will always be tops in my book!

If you haven't guessed yet, summer is fully baking my region and temperatures in my hometown have been over the 100 degree mark for 11 days now with heat indexes between 110-125 and while we hope to see a break the end of this week (with temps only in the 90's...sigh) summer shows no sign of abating. If I had my way the seasons would be fall, little winter, spring, repeat. Sadly, God did not ask my opinion on how the weather should be so until temperatures reach the bearable mark (also known as the being able to step outside at 7 o'clock and not break into a sweat mark) I shall remain indoors and watch anime!!! I'm thinking maybe after re-watching Cardcaptor Sakura I'll start back on D. Gray-man again...or maybe Slayers. Well, we'll see!

Oh - the icon is by the wonderful Lavi49 isn't it just the best??

Ok, did anyone else read the writers block idea for the day??? If not (or if your's is different then mine) the question of the day was "Are you ready for a zombie outbreak or are you just going to wing it?' I find this especially hilarious due to the fact that when I used to work at the CD store in the mall we had this same conversation. Ting and I believed that if there was ever an outbreak we would be fairly safe in our store due to the high amount of easily thrown projectiles (CD's and DVD's) while Stephen held to the fact that if there ever was such an outbreak he was grabbing the giant metal fishhook (which was used to pull the metal gate at the front of the store down) and using it as a big ass sword/staff so we would all be safe. Of course this then brought up whether or not the zombies would be like the ones on Dawn of the Dead or not and how fast a zombie could really run, so sad as it to say, I think I have made plans...

Well, I've caught up on the D. Gray-man anime (Squeee!!! I love them all, but especially Allen, I just want to squeeze him!), and both the Tsubasa and xxxHolic manga's on onemanga (Curse you Clamp...the suspense is killing me, what the heck is the connection between Watanuki and Syaoran??) and I am currently re-watching and re-reading Cardcaptor Sakura (due to the overdose on Clamp, I figure what's one more....)so life's pretty good....Even if real life is boring as heck!

I am an addict and since I can admit this I believe I am probably taking the first steps towards curing my addiction, or that's what all the self-help books say anyway...What you might ask is my horrible addiction this time???? Amazon.com.....It's evil!!! I go on it to check and see when a book is coming out and I end up buying 3 that I didn't come there for. I've even reached the point that I am shelling out the whopping $80 a year membership fee to get the unlimited 2 day shipping for free and the reduced overnight shipping. Why is this so necessary?? Because when I order a book/cd/dvd I want it now, and having to wait 3-5 days for standard shipping just kills my soul, so I keep paying as much as the book I'm buying in shipping fees just to get it here NOW!!! Not to mention the fact I'm on a first name basis with the UPS guy...Ooops!

Why you might ask don't I just drive down the street to the bookstore/dvd store/cd store....because I hate shopping unless it's online. I will do just about anything to not have to go into a store, including eat ramen for days on end because I don't want to go grocery shopping.

Blegh.....my poor bank account!!!

EEEEEE!!!! My sister and I watched all three of the Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations OVA's last night and so much squealing occurred I'm surprised the apartment security people didn't show up. For some reason I just suddenly got the urge to watch Tsubasa and XXXholic again after probably a year and of course I'm having to catch up on the manga's on Onemanga and Squeee!!! I'd forgotten how much I absolutely love both series. It's amazing how if you stop keeping up with something for several months and then you come back the story is even more amazing and the story more heart wrenching then before, and this is especially true for anything by Clamp. Even if they just make up the character designs *cough* Code Geass *cough* anything with their name attached is just, just.... beautiful!!!

In fact, the two of us were so excited that I'm surprised my arm didn't get pulled out of socket last night by my sister, when all the characters from "X" started showing up, and when Kamui showed up I thought I was going to have to find bandages from the grip she had on my arm, not to mention being slighty deaf from her squealing in my ear.

Now to go start re-reading the whole Tsubasa Manga from the beginning.....I've finished xxxHolic already (Squee for the Domeki/Watanuki pairing!!!!!)so on to the next!!!

I love the day before a federal holiday!! It's wonderful because you spend the whole day with the knowledge that you will be off the next day and when it's a Friday it's even better!! My dear co-workers and I all spent the day goofing off as much as working, Rach ecstatic over the fact that she's going on a 5 year birth control (no more children for 5 years), Lacy that tomorrow is the 4th and the two of us are going to see fireworks out by her house (way...way....out in bfe I might add), and I just kept throwing random double thumbs ups and cheesy grins to both of them for various stupid reasons. Seriously you would think we were 8 not in our late 20's early 30's....But yeah for Holidays!!!!

Of course now comes the question of what to do over the long weekend...I'm all caught up on watching Hitman Reborn, Code Geass, and my latest fangirly obssession Junjo Romantica (of which there is only one more episode anyway..sniff...sniff....). I've read so much Harry Potter fanfiction lately I'm burned out...after my latest shopping spree (6 itty bitty little manga....at once)I'm broke, so I need something new...but what??? You would think with over 300 manga (plus another 100 or so of my sisters) and countless animes I would never get in this situation but I want something new!!! New Obssession needed!!!

Eeekkk!! Look at the time, got to get ready to watch fireworks.....If only I could do it from inside the airconditioning this would be awesome!!!

There are days when I wonder if maybe I should be banned from coming into work, and today I think was probably one of them. I've been on vacation the last three days (Woohoo!!!!! Long Car Rides, sunburns, and 'family time') and within one hour of walking in I managed to put a Titanic sized hole in a deal that is supposed to be closing tomorrow by just looking at the new survey. My boss is panicking, the buyer is balking, the seller is frantic, and the realtor's and bankers are all still trying to figure out what the heck happened. What I want to know is why am I the only one who noticed the enormous issue in the last 60 years?? Did everyone else look at it and just say, 'hey, I don't want to have to deal with that so let's just ignore the elephant in the closet shall we??'

Blegh!!!!! I want to go back to the lake, atleast there I was away from irate phone calls!!!!

I guess I have really and truly entered back into my anime obsession stage...First it Code Geass...which I really, truly love! Lelouch is my hero (even with being a manipulative, evil bastard....or maybe that's why he's my hero???) and Suzaku added to the mix just screams new obsession (they are currently my background on my laptop and my phone wallpaper...) and now it's Hitman Reborn! What's not to love about a story about gobs of cute, adorable, and hot guys who are training to become hitmen?? (Besides Kyoko...because she irks me something awful, heck even my sister keeps throwing stuff at the screen whenever she comes on.) I've watched over half the episodes that are out in like 3 days (and yes that is with working as well....) and when we go to the lake this weekend I am definitely hitting the bookstore down there and raiding their manga selection for the manga.

Bad, bad, obssession....I must buy food to eat...I must pay rent.....I must not spend all of my paycheck on anime and manga and collectibles. *Sniff...Sniff* But who needs food or shelter when I can have anime???

Thankfully after a full day of working yesterday, my sister is totally moved in with me and things are slowly returning to normal (or at least the new form of normal, which involves another person in my apartment and verbs turning from mine to ours....)

My Dad, Lord bless him, is such a dork and proved the point frequently during the move including the following memorable situations...

I called him Monday morning and asked him what day would be best for him to move my sisters larger furniture with me so that I could take off and he told me Wednesday would be best. So I go in, request the day off, and then on Tuesday night when I ask him what time he wants to start moving he asks, what day are you taking off again?? After a look of utter disbelief, I informed him that I had taken the next day off (like he told me to in the first place) so he says "ok, that will work" (to which my only thought is damn right it better....)"and just call me when you get up and we'll decide from then." So I go to bed and call him at 8 the next morning when I wake up and of course get no answer, so I lay around for awhile in my pj's and eat breakfast, play online, etc... until the phone rings...(well plays the Imperial March from Star Wars which is his ring tone...It fits scarily well....)

Me: Hey!
Dad: Are you up yet?
Me: Yes, I tried to call you....
Dad: Hmmm...it didn't say I missed a call on my phone...
Me: Well, I did.
Dad: Well, I'm on my way to get you...
Me: *Freaking out* Ahhhhh!!! give me a minute to get dressed....
Dad: Well - I'm already half-way there....

After which I frantically ran to my room threw on some old work clothes, pulled my hair back in a short ponytail (it was all nasty since I was planning on washing it) and by the time I grabbed my shoes, he was there....Dork....what happened to him calling Me??? I love the man, but sometimes I wish I could claim that I'm not really related to him....

My morning started out with a message in my inbox from youtube that no amv vid maker ever wants to see. "This video has been removed for copyright infringement" blah, blah...don't do it again, but in legal terms. I'm still trying to figure out how my little vid managed to get canned when 9 million other anime vids are still out there, but that's what happened. The horrible part that just absolutely kills my soul is that in being removed, they took away my ability to see all of my wonderful comments and my almost 100 favorites are all down the drain....sniff....sniff...the utter defeat I feel is overwhelming. So do I re-upload it to another account (which yes I do have more then one)or just leave it alone and do nothing? I don't know!!!! sniffle...sniffle...I think I'm going to go eat a carton of ice cream and mope until time for bed, or I decide what to do...whichever.

There are days when I really wonder how I ever managed to make it through my childhood in one piece, and with all limbs attached, and today was definitely one of them. My family has the great misfortune of having various normal occurrences that somehow warp into America's Funniest Home Video material. The latest, of which I was not involved personally, occurred yesterday....( The true story of the black snake of doom )

It's been storming outside most of the morning, though now it has turned into just a slight drizzle, but the end result is that I want nothing more then to go home and curl up with my laptop and watch Code Geass which I started watching last night. I'd watched the first 4 episodes before but somehow I got busy with other stuff (Lord knows what...because I can't remember...) and never finished the series and with a second season started - I've got to catch up. Unfortunately this has put me into a desperate mood for good fanfics on the series and so far, no luck on that frontier. Of course like all my tastes it runs more into slash then not (truthfully..all slash), and I prefer Lulu/Suzaku (at the moment)- you got to love the best friends turned worst enemies plot line!!! It's always a winner with me...

I tried working some more last night on the Gundam Seed amv I'm currently working on, but I just can't get the beginning like I want it. The timing is crucial, but with the nine million other things on my laptop my movie making software is slowing down and freezing up and just causing a multitude of frustrations, so every time I try to work on timing I get frustrated and walk away. What I really need is either an external hard drive or just a desktop system solely for that purpose, plus I really, really, want the Vegas Movie Studio software...It's so...so...perfect, it's my deepest desire! It's calling my name...I just know it is...(now if only I had the cash for it...which sadly I don't, but if I get that raise???? It's mine!)

Blegh....well only 5 hours and 2 minutes until I'm off....If I can survive that long!!

First a little background information: I have a horrible history of always, always having some health issue going on at all times, as soon as I get over one thing, I have another. The latest was when I decided to try a weight loss pill and broke out with a wonderfully awful case of hives over probably half my body. Of course, it took me two days to figure out what was causing it and in that time I had the following conversation with my boss:

Me: I hate itching like this!!!

Boss: Well, just don't touch me, I don't want to catch whatever it is...

Me: Oh, trust me I won't, I don't even want to touch myself, and do you know how hard it is not to touch myself??

Boss: dead silence....

Me: Oh, my god not like that!

Boss: Lying on the floor laughing, I've got to tell your mom. Picks up the phone and buzzes my mother (we work at the same company) Guess what your daughter just said???? It's really hard for her not to touch herself....hahahahaha!!!!

At that point, I slunk back to my office and acted like the whole conversation never took place.

Of course the next day a phone call to my mother went something like this:

Me: Mom, it was the pill, and finally the stupid hives are going down and I don't look like a leper!!!

Mom: Well, thank goodness, now maybe you won't find it necessary to 'touch yourself'

Me: Silence....I knew you wouldn't be able to let me live that down....sigh

Dear Lord, and this is a normal occurrence for me!

My little sister is graduating on Saturday, and while I am thrilled for her and working round the clock on her graduation video that I'm making, as well as planning a party on Saturday, I'm also feeling every bit of the eight years that are between us. It seems like only yesterday I was picking her up from grade school and going home to watch Sailor Moon with her on Cartoon Network while I fixed dinner before Mom got home, and now she's grown up and heading to college in the fall. In putting together the vid, I've also realized that she suddenly doesn't look like a little girl anymore, she's become an adult and somehow I feel I missed it. I think the reason it is really hitting me so hard, is because I helped raise her. My parents were always there, but they did both work and so I took her to and from school and watched her everyday when she got out for several hours from the time she was 7 or so on, so of course we've always been close.

Suddenly in the last couple of years, boys quit being icky, and makeup had to be applied before she could leave the house. Weekends started revolving around club meetings, band practices, and football games and not which Disney movie we should watch or when we were going to my grandparents or aunts house. Clothes shopping became a nightmare as once simple trips to one store for everything turned into combing every store in the mall for the perfect pair of jeans. Sunday lunches started being interrupted by the constant text messages arriving on her phone, and sudden dashes to a friends house that was depressed over boyfriend trouble.

So on Saturday, when she walks that field and takes ahold of her diploma, it will not only be the end of her high school days, but the end of a childhood that I for one will surely miss. I do know however, that no matter if she's married with 4 children, or a big shot in some worldwide corporation, to me she will always be that little girl who would always start her conversations with "Sissy, guess what happened at school today???"

Ever since my last amv I have been utterly stuck as to my new subject matter. Every time I try to start a new vid I get 20 or 30 seconds in and then toss the whole idea: anime, song, timing....nothing works! I mean I started out my amv making hobby with two pretty pathtic first attempts, (one of which still gets an amazing amount of feedback even though personally I think it sucks) but my third and fourth I'm still proud of. My Kyou Kara Maoh vid has been favorited over 70 times and yet I can't get any sort of inspiration for something new! Blegh....I've even tried leaving the realm of anime and trying some of my favorite tv shows...and nothing works!! And I refuse to just make another so-so video....it will kill my soul!

Life wise, nothing much has been going on. I go to work, I come home, eat, sleep, and then repeat. It's sad truly, it is, but the thought of getting out and going out to any clubs and bars just doesn't appeal. One of my best friends from high school who came in for spring break, however, warned me I was well on my way to becoming the crazy cat lady and that I must say has me a tad bit nervous. Of course he now lives in a big city and goes out to bars every night so anything involving small town life is boring to him.

Well, here's to small town life and hopes of life becoming more interesting sometime before I'm 40....

I've started work on my next vid which I am planning to be a Kyou Kara Maoh - Yurram vid but all my inspiration is dried up for the moment. Partially because several episodes I really need are not currently on my computer and I am to lazy at the moment to download them so that I have them to work with.... (mainly due to the fact I need to pull off some other downloads so they will fit but I'm to lazy to pull them off) and partially because the song I chose is just not working for me right now...blegh!

On another note I am still waiting for my poor car to be finished being repaired after the idiot rear-ended me, and I am incredibly tired of driving a rental car. I'm scared to death somebody is going to hit it and then I'd have to deal with the insurance people, and the car rental people at the same time, and I really don't want to have to do that. Plus, it's not my car so I can't leave my cd's everywhere or leave half of my wardrobe in the trunk so if I happen to fall in a lake or it gets either above a hundred or below zero I'm prepared!!!

On an up note for today though we (my co-workers and I) went to a realtor open house that we sponsored and the realtor who's house it was is our absolute favorite realtor out of all the ones around here. An absolute pervert....but a favorite none the less. He has the uncanny ability to make me (and one of my other co-workers) turn red from embarrasment within no more then 2 minutes of the time he walks in...it's a scary ability really because generally the two of us are the one's embarassing anyone within a five foot radius of ourselves...


Credit for the icon goes to...I have no idea who....if it's yours please let me know and I'll be sure to credit you!!

Well Toby Edward is here a beautiful 7lb 1oz baby boy with tons of hair!! He's adorable and tiny and I think my maternal clock is broke because it is so not ticking...that or my brain has taken precedence. One of the two anyway...

I did however finally manage to finish my latest Kyou Kara Maou vid which is on both my personal myspace and also on youtube which you can find here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpvfmzrVR1Y

if the link actually works...I'm pretty proud of this one, it's my first Kyou Kara Maoh vid and my fourth vid all together so I think I'm definitely getting better. Since I am absolutely and totally incapable of anything involving drawing (more then stick figures atleast) and my writing skill are absolutely dreadful (I love reading fanfics but unlike my sister I can't write one to save my life - and I refuse to be one of the people who post a story that utterly sucks...it would be a mortal wound to my pride) I've discovered that I really enjoy making vids. This one took somewhere around oh 10 hours or so off and on to finish up but I really enjoyed it...

Oh - and credit for the icon goes to Wizshan the Bloody Rose - it's great isn't it??? I love Jennifer aka Miko

After almost two weeks of false starts Kris is finally having her baby! It will be her 2nd (to my none-which I so don't plan on changing anytime soon) so I'm not nearly as freaked as with the first one but I am still really excited it's finally here, even if it is 3 weeks early. Hopefully by the time I get off Toby will be born and I can just run up there and see them on my way home but we'll see....Now if work would only get over and I can leave I'd be really, really happy!! Oh well- guess that's the way it works..blegh.

Especially since the last time I posted I'd just moved into my old apartment and now I've moved into a new one in the last couple of weeks....blegh. This last month sucked: I was moving (cleaning my old apartment and setting up my new one), I got in a wreck (which was so not my fault) so now my car is at the body shop and I'm still sore 5 days later, and my best friend is having a baby like anytime so I am putting up with not only one but two pregnant ladies (her and my boss...again...) so i atleast have that reason for not posting, but the months before....uhhh. No excuse really! I'll try to be better...really!