Christmas

The holiday was a good time. Paul and I stayed at my house. We slept in my old bed. Sleeping in the same room was a big step forward, and I was happy about it. I got lots of cool presents including a bookshelf, a drill, some sheets, a bracelet, earrings, a new shelf, framed pictures from Spain, a teapot, knives, a crochet book, pretty cards, a tote bag, a gift card to Target, a bottle of wine, and a lot of other little things. We spent time at Sis and Harry's on Christmas eve and saw that part of Mom's family, spent Christmas hanging out around the house--Uncle Tab came over, then we went out to my Uncle Larry's house to see Dad's side of the family. Then Paul and I headed home. I spent most of yesterday cleaning or playing FFIX. Today Aunt Vicky and Grandma are coming down so I have to finish the cleaning. Tomorrow, Betsy is coming. Woo hoo. ^_^

Christmas is starting!!

We just got home from dinner with Paul's parents. We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I had lobster. It was amazing. It was probably the most expensive dinner I've ever had. It was super cool. After dinner we came back and exchanged presents. We really got a lot of cool stuff. They gave us a PS2, Final Fantasy V, VI, X, and XII. We also got Ratchet Deadlocked and GTA Liberty City Stories. I got the whole series of of Martian Successor Nadesico and Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest, and Paul got the Planet of the Apes boxed set. Final Fantasy XII was from Paul's brother, Rob. So, overall, Christmas is starting out strong. I also got a candle at work today. And giving my notice went really well, everyone was very nice and supportive. It was sort of surprising, but really cool.

Tomorrow, we're off to my family's abode till Christmas, then we're heading home Christmas evening because Paul's working on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to spending time with the family and seeing Betsy. *happy dance* Yay Christmas! It's such a great holiday. Have a good one.

Happy Holidays!!

I got an A on my anatomy test! And after that, I got a phone call and Meribeth (the recruiter from Home Instead Senior Care) told me that my references were great and that they were going to hire me. I have orientation next week. I'm giving my two-weeks notice today. When I get home I'm going shopping with Wendy and then Paul's parents are taking us out to dinner. Monday is Christmas. I am very happy with my life and the universe and everything right now. I bought a plane ticket to go visit Savannah at the end of March for less than $255. And that's round trip. I have a massage chair. We learned tapotement and vibration this week, and they are both cool. I could keep going. But I'll just leave it at that. ^_^

All the cool kids are doing it.

Yay I get a unicorn!!

Another weekend bites the dust.

Weekends just go too fast. It's sort of scary, really.

This weekend, Hilary came to visit. I was really happy about it. I did massage homework on her while Ben and Paul played card games. Then we all watched a movie. Then, instead of going to bed like our normal sane selves, Paul and I stayed up and played video games till like two in the morning. Then I got up on Saturday and went and got a massage. It was fantastic. I felt great. I went to John, one of the Swedish professors at the school, because getting a professional massage is one of our class requirements. I know, it's a hardship. I learned a few cool new moves, and I have decided that I cannot live much longer without my very own Tibetan singing bowl.

I got back home and Paul and I made a massive grocery run. On Sunday, we went to see my family around 1:00. We watched the football game and ate and talked and had a nice time. Then we left and met Paul's parents at the Monroeville mall so they could give him his snow tires. We did a bit of shopping--Paul bought things for other people and I got a couple things for myself at Barnes and Noble with my giftcard that I got as my work Christmas present. Then, Ben and Hilary came back over after we got home and we played Trivial Pursuit. It was the 20th Anniverary edition, me and Hilary vrs. Ben and Paul. It ended up as a draw because we were tied for pies and getting exhausted. It was nice having Hilary around this weekend. I really hope she moves to Pittsburgh.

Speaking of people I wish were in Pittsburgh, I was looking at tickets to Seattle to go and visit Savannah. I found the best price with Southwest--$254.20 for the round trip. If everything works out, I'll go visit her from March 29-April 2. It's still a ways away, but at least it'll be marked on the calander and scheduled. I really shouldn't be spending money on myself like that, but damnit, I miss her and I promised that I'd visit.

I haven't heard back about my job interview. She said that she'd call back in about a week, and today is the week mark. Hopefully I get a call today. If I don't, I'll wait till next week and call them. It seemed like they wanted to hire me, she was calling my references, and I think they'd all say nice things... *hope hope hope* I want this job hard. The pay is better, and I would actually be doing something good and worthwhile and not spending all of my time playing on the internet and feeling like a bad employee.

We played GURPS yesterday, without Ben. He was moving back home. We missed him. But the session was cool, anyway. My character (she's a super-strong tiny anime girl who loves to eat) made with the diplomacy. She talked the two-headed giant into meeting with the town's lord and figuring out a way to work to feed his family. He'd been stealing sheep from local farms. I was really pleased with how everything worked out. I felt really good about the session.

Speaking of GURPS, Paul is in the Powers playtest. So he's planning a vampire hunting/drug dealer fighting game. My character for it is SWEET. I mean, first off, she's 500 points. *lots of points dance* She's a mutant. With speed powers. When her family first found out, they kicked her out of the house and she lived on the streets for a year. Then, her monther managed to get in contact with her and they made up over the phone. When she got home to make up with her family in person, she found that they'd been slaughtered by vampires. Since then, she's trained herself to be a vampire killing machine. She's got the true faith advantage, which allows her to fend off vampires with a holy symbol. Her holy symbols are things like celtic knots. She's got knotwork tattooed on nearly every inch of her skin. A finger of it works up into her face and wraps around her left eye. Her twin silvered broadswords are also covered with celtic markings. Yeah. She fights with twin broadswords. And she's got enhanced time rate, which gives her an extra turn per round. She's mad sweet. She's got long black hair, green eyes, pale skin (she keeps the same sleep schedule as her prey) and she wears a black tanktop and army green cargo pants. The only skin not covered with intricate designs is her face (mostly) and the palms of her hands. And she wears twin broadsword strapped across her back. I'm pretty excited about her. If you can't tell.

I had a pretty eventful weekend.

I left work at noon, like I do on Fridays. When I got home I called about a job I saw on the internet. And I have an interview tomorrow. If I get the job, I'll be going to elderly people's houses and helping them with chores and errands and the like. It's possible that I might have to clean them up or help them get dressed, but I can handle that. And it starts at $1 more per hour than I am making, and as I get training it goes up another $1.50. So, overall it looks like a cool thing. Plus, if I decide I want to do geriatric massage it will be a great practice builder for me. Wish me luck.

I was going to write and stuff on Friday, but I was too excited to concentrate, so I hung out with Wendy all afternoon. Then, just as Paul and I were going to get ready for my work Christmas party, his mom called to tell him that his grandmother was dying. She had ovarian cancer, and they'd given her two months to live last week. We skipped the party and drove out to Fayette City, where Paul's grandmother was. She was on morpine and couldn't really talk, but she knew that he was there, and he got to tell her that he loved her. She died Saturday night. Paul's doing okay, but his father is pretty broken up.

On Saturday morning, I gave my boss a massage. It went okay. It wasn't the best massage I could give, but it was still a good massage. I'm pleased with myself, because I overcame a lot of obstacles to do well. First off, I don't like him. And then he smelled bad and his feet were really icky--they were all dry and had weird growths on them and his toenails were yellow and really thick--and when I asked about the pressure scale he never really gave me a clear answer. One time instead of responding with a number he chuckled and said, "You're doing fine, kiddo." He called me kiddo. Ugh. And I wasn't asking about how I was doing, I was asking where he wanted the pressure. I had problems focusing and being in the moment, mainly because I didn't want to be there. I was looking forward to giving Hilary a massage next week. But every time my mind wandered I caught it before he did and pulled myself back to the moment.

I went home and Ben came over and we played D&D and watched some Buffy. Then on Sunday I gave Paul a massage, worked on a new short story, and studied for my anatomy final. And now I'm back at work.

I hate ice

I slipped and fell last night in the parking lot and I managed to hurt both my tailbone and my shin. (The car door was open because I was actually getting into the car when I fell and I hit it with my leg.) It sucked. Then my drive home sucked too because of the ice and the traffic for the football game. Of course, I didn't know about the football game. So I didn't know why I was going about a foot every five minutes. It was frustrating.

But then I got home and had dinner with Paul. It was very nice. Then he drew me a bath and I used the new bath baums that we made in aromatherapy. I stayed in the water till it was pretty much tepid, just soaking. My tailbone feels better this morning (last night it hurt to walk when I got out of the car) and even though my shin has a huge lump on it and aches a little, it could still be worse. So, the lessons everyone should learn. A. Ice sucks. B. Aromatherapy is magic. C. Cohabitation is totally the way to go.

Short rant

I can understand that literary magazines want people to buy their product. And I even understand that it is in a writer's best interest to be at least a little familiar with a publication to have a greater chance to be accepted. However, at $5 apiece for the cheap ones and some of them getting up to $15 or more, it's insane to expect writers to pick up copies of every literary magazine that they submit to. I couldn't come anywhere near affording it.

But what really annoys me about the situation is the fact that the your chances only go up a tiny, tiny little bit if you read the magazine. Literary magazines still reject somewhere around 90% of the work they receive. Which makes me wonder how I'll ever get anything published. I am a good poet. I'm pretty confident about that. But am I better than 90-95% of everyone else who writes poetry? It's a daunting thought. But I'll keep trying.

Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley..

Today's Order of the Stick is brilliant. ^_^

I'm getting my poetry on again. I have a brilliant plan to mail stuff this weekend. I've finally recovered a bit from the full round of rejections. I'm getting back on the horse. And all that jazz. I've gone through most of my poems and worked some minor edits. On Friday I'll try to do the same with my finished prose pieces. Then on Saturday after I do my homework massage on my boss, I'll get everything all nice and packaged up and I'll walk down to the post office. If I get stuff published and get some money from it that'll help with finances a lot. (Though for the poetry journals I'll settle for copies.)

I'm not really looking forward to my boss' massage. But I guess that's sort of the point. I want to work on him so that I know I can give a good massage to a person that I'm not comfortable with. Wish me luck.

I had a good weekend last weekend. Played some D&D, drank some wine, ate good food, watched a funny movie, gave a good massage. I can't wait to do massage for a living. I think I could live pretty well off of four per day. Of course, that's twenty clients per week. I don't even know twenty people.

It's cold outside. And my coworkers are starting to show up. Grar. I like being here much better before they all start to trickle in.