Fiddle-Dee-Dee, Said Scarlett

I had a nice weekend.

Friday we ended up not going out to dinner, we just grabbed some Japanese food at Fry's and had a picnic in husband_brother's room. We watched some TV, smoked and drank and cuddled and had Epic Fanon Discussions - she's an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, too! - and just relaxed. We didn't get to bed until around 1:30 in the morning, and by that time we were so out of it and exhausted that we weren't even making sense.

At one point, I did end up alone chatting with her mother for a bit. That was kind of awkward, but also nice. Her mom assured me that she liked me, and she was excited and enthusiastic about this move, and thinks we're going to do wonderfully together. So that made me feel good, because...well...this woman is going to be my mother-in-law.

Yeah, I guess it's about time I fess up that I'm basically engaged. :D We never had anything official, just an adorable little discussion where it kind of came up. We both were just assuming, and even though we assumed right, it was still adorable.

Anyway, Saturday morning we did a drive by of that house. It turns out that she is very familiar with it! As is her whole family! And it's not too far from either her current place or my current place, which is awesome. We went out with her sister and her sister's boy (who really need official nicknames) for a nature walk through these gorgeous rock formations and hung out in nature for a bit. Then we spent the rest of the day watching TV, RPing, playing with henna and just plain relaxing and enjoying one another's companionship. I'm terribly excite about RP stuff.

( Cut For RP Babble No One Cares About )

But we aren't just heartless bastards who do terrible things to the ones we love! We sent the kidlets to go get lost in the Lost Woods to ensure they will never know of the Doom. Because while we'll break adults (and Shineybottom), we will not break the kids. Even though they're teenagers, no Doom for them.

It's vastly amusing to me that currently the most functional, rational, capable person in this whole epic fusion is one who has only a passing acquaintance with sobriety. (This will change once Doom starts, of course.)

We had planned to watch a movie and camp out in the shed Saturday night, but by six o'clock we were both so exhausted and achey that we decided it would be best just to get caught up on sleep - especially as she went back to work on Sunday. I know I was out of it by eight.

Next week, she has almost the whole week off. :D

In other news, my sleep schedule's fucked due to the heat and ailments. I didn't get much last night, but at least I was up to catch The Revenge Society! And I got some writing done - I now have multi-chapter fic up at ff.n! - and I did sleep in a bit this morning. It was already too hot for me to be able to eat, but I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll get my allotment and be able to get some green herb to manage it.

My room is being eaten by boxes.

Blargh!

I have been sick as all hell for pretty much the whole week. Still sick, but I seem to be on the mend. I was able to keep down some solid food yesterday, and I actually slept last night. I think I managed a good six hours. Had dreams that were weird as hell, but now I can't remember them well. I know attilatehbun was in them. We were going down a crowded stairway into something bad. And there was something about clones....

Anyway, hoping to be able to hop back into stuffs this weekend.

Been re-playing Lost Odyssey. I'm almost to the point where I fucked up royally and screwed myself so bad I had to restart. I pretty much did nothing but play that yesterday, But I made it from the start of the White Boa section all the way to the middle of the Sorceress' Mansion section. And now I find myself needing a walkthrough.

Then I caught SyFy's showing of The Amnityville Horror. Which...well, for me it was more of a comedy, at least until I was able to completely disassociate the characters and setting in the movie with the actual people and events.

It seriously pisses me off that they still have a 'Based on a True Story' tag in front of the movie. All major players in the hoax, including the priest, have revealed exactly how and why they faked the whole thing. No reason not to make a movie, because it's a damn good story, but can we please stop the whole 'TRUE STORY' crap? I feel the same way about Haunting in Connecticut, even though I haven't seen it. While the real life explanation there is much different, it's the same general idea.

( And My Very Late Mid-Season Finale Venture Bros Thoughts )

Now we just need moar Dermott, and I'll be a damn happy camper. :D

Wow, the new meds I'm on are absolutely amazing!

Not only do they put me in a ridiculously good mood, but I'm creative and productive. It's not even noon and already I've taken out the trash, scrubbed the counters, and done nearly all the dishes. The dishes are a big deal. We have been...lax on maintaining the sanctity of our sink.

There is a reason I refer to it as 'The Sink Monster'. Colonies of tiny life had sprung up and begun evolving. I think they were on the verge of discovering fire. Great towering mountains of placewear, caked with the remains of meals long forgotten, rose up from the murky depths. The water...for all that is holy, don't make me recount the state of the water!

But I went into battle despite the odds and powerful enemy. Armed with scrub brush, sponge and the strongest detergent we had, I attacked.

The battle was long and hard. There were casualties on both sides. My skirt suffered mysterious stains. Bits of things worked their way beneath my fingernails. Once, I think something grabbed me.

But in the end I was triumphant! All hail the conquering hero! ;)

I also posted to all my threads! And took a shower. And I can't remember the last time I was in this positive a mood. This morning, nijawial compared me to Tohru. That's never a character I've ever been associated with before....

I'm not even terribly bothered by the fact that my paid LJ account runs out in a few days. I'll just use as many icons as possible in the remaining time... ;)

Grocery shopping accomplished!

The more tired and stressed out I am, the quicker the shopping goes. I shaved a whole half hour off today.

I really need to eat something - I haven't been eating nearly enough lately. And now I'm always tired and my head keeps hurting. I just haven't been able to keep food down at all lately. And my cough isn't going away - even with drastically reducing my smoking. So not only am I tired, hungry, cranky and sick...my nicotine levels are dangerously low.

Arizona friends! Would anyone be interested in going to see CCR with me on July 23rd? My dad doesn't want to go - he'd prefer to watch a concert on TV it turns out - but said he'd happily treat me and any friends who wanted to go. They're playing at Tim's Toyota Center, Thursday the 23 at 7. I know this is probably a long shot, but... I really don't want to go to a concert by myself.

I really need to write, but I just keep coming up empty handed. And people keep giving me such awesome ideas, but I can't seem to do anything with them. The only thing (besides my original work, which I don't like to talk about in detail) that's even semi-formed in my mind is actually a little Eddie-centric ficlet that's been rattling around the old brain for a few days. Eh, maybe I'll give it a go.

Both my fights are up at CU! I need to hop to those threads, wrap up Reno and Maria's date thread, and work on some plottings with Myre. And speaking of CU...I may end up staying up way past my bedtime tonight. If my internal AS schedule is correct, Shadowman 9: In the Cradle of Destiny is on tonight - and since I'm struggling with my RP samples for Phantom Limb, it'd be a good episode to watch again. And I don't have season 3 on DVD yet, so....

I also need to get my hands on the soundtrack, but it can only be ordered online. :/ Curse you, Astrobase Go!

I think my phone will be turned back on today? I sure as hell hope so, because N and A are coming back either today or tomorrow morning, and it's the only number they have for us.

I'm sort of tempted to go down to the DAV today and see about putting together my Sasha cosplay.

Feeling much, much better today!

So Wednesday Team Venture all headed up to Sedona. Tuesday night, enigmablade and summoneddestiny just crashed at our place so we could get an early move on. Wednesday dawned beautiful and clear, and I honestly enjoyed just sitting on the porch smoking after my shower and watching the sun creep up. We got coffee drinks and a light breakfast, then we were off!

On the way we ended up driving behind a plane.

Yes, a plane. A little plane in the back of a truck. I have a picture around here somewhere. We also spotted a hilariously unintentional (we hope) license plate. When I see 'STDPUDL', I think 'STD Puddle'. Not 'Stud Poodle'.

We made it to Slide Rock between 10 and 11, and headed down to the river.

The red rocks were hot, the water was freezing, and the landscape was beautiful. summoneddestiny took pictures while the rest of us swam and sort-of slid down the natural rock slide. I say 'sort of' because even algea covered rocks that slope down with the current are exactly perfect slides. Especially the second run, where the flat smooth bottom turns unto a sharp V that was not wide enough for my hips. I was tumbled out of that little expanse into over-my-head water. Which was actually pretty fun.

We spent a few hours there, swimming and goofing off and then headed to Denny's. And to a gas station where I grabbed a lighter, since I'd completely forgotten to take mine out of my pocket before going in the water.

We stopped off in Jerome on the way home, and I got my mother a Mother's Day gift. Then it was home, where I had planned on taking a short nap. But I did some dishes and took out the trash and then N and A got a hold of me and we got to talking, then they came over and brought a hilarious stoner movie. Smiley Face, starring Anna Faris and Danny Masterson. If you're at all into stoner type movies (Cheech and Chong, Super High Me, Dude, Where's My Car) you'll enjoy Smiley Face.

Thursday and Friday I was sick with monthlies. But yesterday I was up and about, and discovered yard care folks in my yard yesterday. We're still not entirely sure where they came from, but we assume the landlady sent them. They were also doing the little triplex next door, and she owns both properties. Plus, she has a habit of not telling us when people are going to be out here.

They did a damn good job - cut the grass, removed debris, cut down some little dead trees, watered my grapes.... Basically mostly things I'd been planning to do this week but wasn't able to.

Now it's Saturday, I may be getting a free couch from N and A for the shed today, and I'm feeling not-like-crap so I'm going to get some cleaning done. I already took a shower - my god, it felt wonderful - and I'm contemplating some breakfast and the sink of dishes now.

Wow, I completely forgot to update yesterday.

Not because I was particularly busy, I was just so intent on other things that it completely slipped my mind. I did finally go thrift storing, though, yay! Got some new shirts, a gorgeous pink knitted poncho, and found the original Broadway Hair recording on vinyl for a quarter. No scratches on the record at all. I was a happy camper!

I did something horrible to my shoulder, but it's finally starting to feel better today. We found one of those wooden massage ball things, and nijawial went to work on me with it. My god, that thing is amazing. I practically melted into the floor.

I am finally reading the Dark Tower series. I know, I know, I'm a terrible person for not reading it before. I've read part of the first book before - a very, very long time ago, to the point that on re-reading it I don't remember anything - and one of the short stories that Stephen King did for Legends. But that's it. So I dug up my illustrated copy of The Gunslinger and got started.

Why haven't I read this before?

Been playing RE5, I think we're almost done with it. We switched off characters, and I got to play as Chris while enigmablade played as Sheva. I must admit, I have quite the growing affection for her. She kicks ass, she's gorgeous, and she's tough. And much, much more agile than Chris. The man is a tank.

My birthday is looming. All I really want is the vinyl release of the Venture Bros soundtrack.

Seth Green is joining the cast of Venture Bros in season 4. This pleases me greatly. Not to mention a season 3 Blu-Ray release. Not that I have a Blu-Ray player, but this is a very good sign of how invested AS is in the series. It's the first ever Blu-Ray release from AS. They wouldn't spend the cash on any of their other DVD releases, but they'll do it for Venture Bros. And now I'm really vibrating in my seat over season 4, both excitedly and nervously. Please let it be that we can't believe it because it's not true, Doc Hammer, please.

Also, oh crap, season 3 comes out Tuesday! Need monies for it! And it's actually going to be uncensored. I'm...not sure how I feel about that.

Today I'm going to clean the house. It's long overdue. I've got coffee going, dishes drying, and it's a beautiful day.

Go Team Venture!

First things are most definitely first!

Holy crap, visionshadows! I got your package! Thank you so much! *massive hugs* That was an awesome surprise! The BPAL and Lush smell delicious, and I've already booted up the DS! :D I literally squealed out loud when I opened it. :D That seriously made my week. And you are more than right, fun packages are awesome any season!

Today I am sick in bed and quarantined since Nija can't afford to get sick and miss work. She doesn't need to be exposed to my germs, especially since she's closing this week. And really, being sick in my room isn't much different than being sick in the living room - I just lack easy access to a fridge. ;) I've got cable, my computer, my books, my awesome new Nintendo DS, a little porch for smoking....

And I'm not terribly sick. It's just a little cold, my nose is runny and I'm tired and achy. Definitely something I can deal with easily, especially since my back and whatnot haven't been bothering me too much. My neck started acting up last night, but a hot bath and some Chinese oil took care of it, and I slept through the night.

So today is 'laze in bed and play video games and muck around on the computer'. Which is probably good, as I've got some damned stuff to do and I'm going to be coming off hiatus at CU.

Now if I just had a mini-fridge in here, I'd be set. ;)

I managed to get up at a reasonable hour today! Technically I woke up at 8:30, but I realized that I'd done all the dishes last night, and scrubbed the counters and stove, so I could afford to doze a bit in bed for a while. Now I'm up, I've got my protein shake, I took my vitamins, and I am feeling like a real human being.

We realized yesterday that my sudden breakdown, weird mood, and subsequent panic attacks through the day are because like the idiot I am, I've been forgetting my vitamins. I take vitamins mostly for the mental and emotional boost, and it's been weeks since I took my B-complex or anything else. So nijawial is going to draw me a little picture to tape to the mirror to remind me every morning to take them. :D

I had no idea so many of you had Facebooks! :D I'm still figuring out the site, but so far I'm liking it.

And thank you to everyone who commented on that meme. Reading all of that really, really did make me feel better. I have some amazing friends, and I am grateful for each and every one of you. I don't know what I'd do without my Flist.

We went with enigmablade and summoneddestiny yesterday to look at fish tanks, and were killed with cute by the dwarf hamsters. I fear we may end up giving one of the little buggers a home. We do have the big Habitrail cage that Hank and Dean have long grown out of - they live in a giant aquarium now, and are much happier with all that space. And plenty of shavings, food, toys etc....

Today on the schedule is:

Work out
Clean living room
Do laundry
Work on fic
RP in between

Everyone's posted for, actually, and my girls are on the move to hook up with their respective companions for the night. :D

Mmm, it's nice to be back in bed with my laptop.

My father believes I have the flu, as it continues to linger quite spectacularly. I still think it's just a nasty cold that has found easy prey in my weak, soft system. I've never been able to fight off illness well, and with age it has only gotten worse. I am ripe for the teeming masses of viral marauders, I'm afraid.

I dreamed of Ganondorf and sacrificing John Travolta for a rare, hard-to-find Transformer. It was for my mother.

I am simultaneously playing three games right now, and feeling something of my old self. I've already spoken on SH:H, now I'd like to take a few moments to discuss the others:

Left 4 Dead: I think the word that best sums up this game, for me, is 'fun'. I'm terrible at this game, I will confess now. I shoot my teammates more often than I shoot zombies, I have no concept of how to control the camera angles, I still don't know how to pick items up, but I don't care. There's simply something remarkably satisfying and enjoyable about shooting things with wild abandon.

I do like the set up of the areas, though. Despite my utter failing at the game, it's very well made and designed. The zombies are varied and interesting, from their design to their methods of attack, and even how they die. It makes shooting them that much more entertaining. It fills me with glee. This is the game to play when there are frustrations that need venting. Mindless shooting of slack jawed, pus filled urban horrors. What better to improve the mood?

Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility: If you are a Harvest Moon fan, you cannot miss this installment of the sleepy, life-simulation series. It is by far the biggest and most in depth of the games, with countless options in all aspects of the game. The farming remains the same, though the crops choices are nearly limitless. Already, in two months I've grown corn, tomatoes, strawberries, breadfruit, melons, cocoa, potatoes, onions, hibiscus, oranges, herbs, and crops that currently escape my memory. And there are far more options than that. Livestock includes the usual fair, but added in are silk worms, ducks, ostriches, and some even more rare and bizarre creatures. Rather than one town, there are now a multitude of islands you can traverse, all offering unique pleasures and sundry.

And the bachelors and bachelorettes! As usual, there are around 8 or 9 to choose from. But added to the usual dull litany of giving gifts daily and waiting for conversation to change, the chosen recipient of your affection can now ask you on dates, randomly drop by your farm, and give you surprise gifts and letters. And the Wiimote makes simple tasks into something much more. The fishing is akin to LoZ:TP, simple but satisfying. The tool set is not immediately handed to you, so you must venture out to seek out townspeople to trigger events.

This game makes you build friendships and interact with townspeople. It's impossible to progress without doing so. The plot is far more intricate and in depth than any other HM, but still revolves around the Harvest Goddess and her sprites - which are just as annoying and ultimately useless in early stages of the game.

I also have No More Heroes, which I'll start once I'm done with SH:H. And we have Obscure. So I am one content gamer right now.

I was going to babble about RP stuff, but I think I've already bored my Flist to death with my console game ramblings! I'll have to save that for another post, I'm afraid. Besides, it's nearly 11 and I haven't even gotten out of bed yet. I need sustenance and my morning absolution.

So huge thank yous to: zinjadu, lovelies, cuylerjade, drusillas_rain and ellid! I got your holiday cards, about half of them today! Which greatly improved my mood. :D

Fence is fixed as good as it possibly can be with just me and no tools. All the garbage has been picked up and the trash barrels have been righted, and the shingles and whatnot have been returned to the neighbor's yard.

I can't do anything about the door. The wind knocked the bottom of it out, and while I was able to get it back in sort of, it's hanging funny and gaping open and so the porch is freezing. I also can't do anything about the screens. Or the fact that my beautiful high, standing ashtray is busted up. At least it's no longer stuck in the window of the shed....

I haven't even gone into the shed. I'm almost afraid to. While the doors were closed and locked - and even that almost didn't help, the metal latch is almost torn off its hinges - the windows were not. They can't be, for a variety of reasons.

I haven't even eaten yet, and I'm still so nauseous that I'm worried I can't keep anything down. It's not even 11:30 and I already feel ready for a hot bath and bed. And I still need to pack for L.A.

So much for relaxing and enjoying the wind down after Christmas. I am very, very tempted to treat myself to Sonic and say 'fuck it' for an hour or two while I veg in front of the TV. But I really should get some posts done while I have a few minutes sitting down.

BUT! In good news: I'm not quite as terrified about money as I was. So that's one huge load off my mind, at least.