This was a fun activity. Elf yourself!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1146086226

I am really getting into the Christmas spirit. Today, I got my first real Christmas tree ever. It is 6 feet tall and nice and round, puffy, and symmetrical–important to OCD people like myself. My apartment (and car) smell fabulous. I also had to break out the eggnog today. It is December already. I can’t believe it. I am really looking forward to a great time with family and friends. Yay Christmas!

I am so very full. I blame my family. The Thanksgiving spread just gets getting bigger and better every year, particularly now that my cousins and I are old enough to bring our own homemade dishes.  Some fun new additions this year: sweet potato salad with cinnamon, parsley, and nuts; shrimp hors d’ouvres; banana bread (from me); a rum cream pie… amazing; and an awesome baked bread in the shape of a turkey. And of course there was all the usual as well. I love turkey. And I gots some decent leftovers too. Though it might be a couple days before I can eat again.

We played fun games. And I even got a double dose, because I stopped by the grad student Thanksgiving games and potluck earlier in the afternoon and played Buckaneers and then played Chickenfoot Dominos with the family. A very fun day. And now I am very tired. Must be the turkey lethargy. I’m so thankful for how blessed I am… with my wonderful family and friends. I wish that everyone were so lucky.

I’m sick. This is quite annoying. And of course I slept all day long… and am not quite sure I can go to sleep now. My mom is in town though… and she came this afternoon to hang out/take care of me. It was kind of interesting. It has been a while since I have had mom around to be nice to me when I am sick and grouchy and not that nice to be around. She is a great sport. I don’t know how she did it my whole life. I am such a brat when I am sick. And you thought I was whiny normally.

She bought chicken soup from the store, and came over… she helped with dishes… and sewed me a skirt… played with frames for my paintings… and distracted the kitties… while I conked out on the couch. Basically, she came in and did all the random mommy stuff that I don’t know how she fits into a day in one afternoon, took care of me, and didn’t kill me despite me being such a brat. Amazing.

Oh well. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better.

The tale of getting my kitties started on Saturday, after a successful wine and potluck housewarming/birthday party…
Lauren came over to help clean up from the party, which wasn’t so bad. Hail the move to post-college get togethers and minimal spillage. There was just a little bit of chocolate from the fountain on the table cloth and such.  So it didn’t take long to clean up, and then we decided to go check out cats at an animal shelter recommended by my dear friend Alissa

Well, we got there and I went through about 5 cats… meaning i played with each of them for a couple of minutes in the “interaction room.” A couple of them were just not interested. One was way too interested… to the point of annoyance with constant whining and aggressive snuggling. I was coated in fur in a matter of seconds. One, a pretty all grey siamese, I thought was pretty good. It purred when I picked it up, but then played independently. But I wasn’t positive. I asked about putting the cat on hold, but they wouldn’t do that if you just had to think about it. They mentioned they had a few more cats at a nearby PetSmart.

So, Lauren and I continued on our adventure. By that time, we really needed a pick-me-up, and stopped by Round Table for a late lunch.  Then we hit up the PetSmart adoption corner. I asked to look at one of the kittens, and was handed this adorable little tortoiseshell with the prettiest green eyes. It purred as soon as I picked it up, and just kept going. I was sold. Well, by then it was 4:30 p.m. and when the adoption person tried to call my landlord to verify they accept cats, they were already gone. I was devastated, but the lady said she was closing, and if I could get back the next day at noon with my rental agreement that I wouldn’t have to worry. No one would adopt her in the meantime.

After a shopping trip to stalk up on the last few needed items, I ended up crashing for a couple hours on the sofa. Mistake. I then couldn’t sleep worrying needlessly about if the cat would still be there, trying to come up with names, getting up and deciding to mop the  kitchen, so everything would be clean for the kitty. I think I ended up with maybe 4 hours of sleep, resulting in multiple snooze button pushings, a speedy exit from the apartment to get to church in time for Sunday School and to sing in the first part of the worship service, to then immediately speed back up the freeway. Did I mention the animal shelter was all the way in Oceanside? Yikes.

Of course, I got there and the kitten I had like was still there. Only problem… when the lady opened the cage to let her out, her brother a cute little ginger tabby strolled out too. Right up to me and into my lap. Oh dear.

So I got them both. Second one half off And after a very interesting drive back down the freeway, got everybody settled at home, fed, watered, etc. And we all took a cat nap.

Now they are playing at my feet and we are going to have to think about bedtime. I think the names are set: Sophie for the girl and Milo for the boy. He looks  just like Milo from “Milo and Otis.” (much nostalgia there)

Yay kitties. 

Today I went to the Pacific Islander Festival with one of my good friends, Alissa. It was a nice little dose of nostalgia. Swap meet like stands, with Hawaiian jewelry, fabric, t-shirts, and all things lahala. Yummy Hawaiian food with lines all the way across the field. And fun hula and polynesian dance shows from a variety of halaus. It was fun. Yay.

I am spending a lot of time organizing my life lately. I am waiting for it to be completely organized, and then I just get to enjoy the organization. I am not sure that is ever really possible.

Mostly, I have been focusing on physical organization. Moving into the new apartment. Putting furniture where I want it. Buying things to go in the furniture. Alphabetizing books in the bookshelf. Setting up my art studio corner. Fretting over where oh where are all the paintings going to go.

And now I am mostly pleased on that front. I still need a vacuum cleaner, some plants, a dvd player and a few other household items. But I am settled, and my apartment is very functional.

I really like this feeling. Really.

Things are accessible. I can work on all the fun and interesting stuff that I like, whenever, WHENEVER !, I want. It is soooo great.

I am currently working on the electronic organization, which is as huge a task as the physical, if not greater. I made great headway during my April vacation to Hawaii – settling differences in email and blogs and pictures. Now I am just playing with the various websites that I have settled on. I think I have secured a fairly permanent blog, that integrates well through RSS feeds to Outlook and has the opportunity for multiple pages and growth. I am in the midst of posting thousands of pictures to Picasa, and starting the long overdue process of sharing those albums with the appropriate people. Even though I have a gmail account for use with groups and photos, I have made the switch to a hotmail based account that will integrate with Outlook and give my OCD brain the organizational tools it wants. And in the process, I have started editing the small business website that came along with the free url. I am not a business yet, but I hope to be someday. Generally, I am making strides in getting where I want to be electronically. And as technology continues to spin out of control, I try to keep up. Learning about everything as it comes, and drawing some lines where I just can’t stand it anymore.

In this crazed world, it pays to stay a step ahead. It helps to be an online resource at work. I like the job security of being invaluable, so I am going to keep striving towards that.

Overall, quite pleased with my progress in organization for 2007. I had quite the resolutions, but I am getting there. And really, there is an emotional and spiritual re-organization that is happening too. By nature, the progress here is much slower. much slower. sigh.

I should be pleased here as well. 2007 is much better than 2006. God is doing great things to transform my whole being. It just hurts like heck. Heh. I can see progress though, and even though the light at the end of the tunnel is the tiniest pinprick, I know that it is there. Better to live life in an important and weighty way, than ignorant bliss. At least, that’s what I have chosen.

Which of course makes it better :-p Well, it is my best attempt at life.

Every time I see the latest Sprint commercial, a small part of my soul disintegrates. I actually love the graphic and film elements and the wistful effect they achieve, and I can’t get the charming, merry-go-round music out of my head. It speaks of childhood dreams, and opens up great opportunity for nostalgia… up there on that list of feelings that might really get me to purchase something. Just because it feels all warm and fuzzy. But all of a sudden the soothing commercial voice develops a pedantic quality, actually ascribing my dreams to me.  Not only that, apparently my dreams were of a glowing, mobile screen with buttons that do everything I could ever want. “That was your dream… and with Sprint Speed it all came true.” Riiiiiight.

I know my dreams were much more than that. Even if I don’t know where to start, I have already accomplished quite a bit more than owning a particular Sprint mobile phone.

You Tube - Sprint Commercial

Welcome to my home page. I am starting anew, getting settled into my new apartment and trying to adjust to my new life. There are so many things I want to do, but at the same time I can’t decide what I want either. This site will document parts of that journey.