Cuteness

I finally remembered to send these pictures to myself at work, so that I could share them with you (because apparently it's too much trouble to log into blogger on my own time to post them. Hee). Behold, the cuteness that is Bernie, sharing his crate with J's dogs.

First up, Bernie and Duff, looking oh so cute and comfortable together. They really are good friends - the only thing is, Duff has to remind Bernie sometimes that he's just too freaking big to be playing rough with.

And, looking slightly less comfortable together, Bernie and Rosebud. I love this one - Bernie just doesn't look like he knows what to do with her right there. He doesn't really have room to lay down, but he's too nice to kick her out. What's a dog to do?

Also, I've been really enjoying a new band that I found, and I want to share. If you love rock 'n roll, especially when it has its roots in the good classic stuff from the 70s, then you should check out Wolfmother. I bought their CD with my Target gift card, and I've been listening to it almost daily since. I especially love the song "Joker and the Thief." It's really good rock. Even J loves it, and he doesn't like new stuff! So I feel safe recommending it.

Okay, that's all I have to say for now. Have a great day, everyone!

Low-key weekend

J and I had a very relaxing, low key weekend. It was nice - lots of not doing much at all, which is just how a weekend should be. There were naps (for him - I don't nap), and grocery shopping, and Sim playing (for me), reading, college basketball watching and DVD watching as well. It's just the perfect way to spend a weekend, if you ask me.

The DVD that we watched was Rocky Balboa. It was a good movie, I thought. I'm not a huge Rocky fan (J is way more into them than I am), but I enjoyed it, and without saying anything to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet, I think that it was exactly what it needed to be, given Rocky's age. It was an enjoyable couple of hours.

So, I did my taxes. I normally have them done by February, because I want my money back as soon as possible. This time, however, I had made a rather significant amount of money at freelance copyediting, none of which was taxed, and I knew I was going to owe money, so I put off doing them. And boy, do I owe! Over $1,000 between federal and state. Sigh. I loved getting that editing money in, but man I am not enjoying the thought of paying that much back in taxes. Oh well. Thank goodness they'll let me pay in installments.

And as if I wasn't paying out enough money in taxes and labwork bills that the stupid insurance company won't pay even though I think they should, I also need to get a new roof. Now, it's not as bad as it sounds, because I don't need to do the whole roof yet - I only need to do the part over the living room extension and the front porch. Still, I'm afraid of how much it's going to cost, I really am. I love owning my own home, but man it would be easier if the house was new instead of over 100 years old and slowly trying to fall apart on me.

Anyway. This entry is going in a whole depressing direction that I didn't intend, so let's turn it around, shall we? Um. Okay, I wish I had a nice picture to post or something, but they're all on my home computer (and I'm at work). So. I'll just say Happy Monday to you! And wrap this up. I hope you all had great weekends, too. And don't let Monday get you down!

Happiness Is...

A pile of milk chocolate Mega M&M's on a yellow note pad at work, just waiting for me to eat them. Mmm, lots of chocolate, a crunchy candy shell, and such pretty colors! :)

So how long has it been since I've posted in here? A week? Maybe more? Sorry about that - I seem to have gotten out of the blogging habit. So, let's play a little catch-up, shall we?

Um, not that I have much to say about what's happened, because not much has. My brother showed up at my house out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't seen him since 2001, when I kicked him out of my house (he was sponging off, er, living with me for a few months, until I reached my breaking point that January and kicked him out), so it was a big surprise. He hasn't changed much - just looks older and way more worn out by life. I guess how you live really does show on your face, because he looks way older than he really is. It's sad, really.

Anyway, we visited for half an hour or so, and then he hit the road, and I haven't heard from him since. I think he was scoping things out to see if he could stay there, but luckily J was there, and I wasn't overly welcoming (I wasn't inhospitable, really, I just wasn't really open and friendly), so I think he decided to look for someone else to sponge off of. Which is fine by me - I'm happier when he's a few states away. Sad, but true.

Other than that, not much has been going on. J and I went to see Ghost Riders, which I loved. We went to Target last week, where I used the remainder of my Christmas gift certificate to buy a new book and a new CD, plus some turkey for lunch, and wound up with .18 cents left on my gift card. Hee. It's crazy that they didn't just give me the change, but whatever. At least I got a couple of new things.

J ordered me a new pair of sneakers, because my old red ones are all worn out and getting stinky, and plus he rocks.

And I'm still completely obsessed with my Sims. I'd be playing all day every day if I didn't have a job. It's probably a good thing I'm not rich, because if I were, I'd just buy myself a super gaming computer and probably never leave the house again. Sigh. It's a crazy obsession, but I love it.

Oh! And the most exciting news, is that Willow is starting to learn to play! I adopted her from the SPCA a year and a half ago, and she never showed any interest in toys - it's like she didn't even know what they were for. But lately she's been seeing J's dogs playing with their toys, and she seems to have picked up the idea from them. I went home last night, and after I got them out and fed, she was having a lot of fun in the living room, playing with a stuffed hamburger. It was so cute. I wanted to get a picture, but I didn't know where my camera was, and if I had gone searching for it, she would have stopped playing anyway. Trust me, though - it was very cute. And I'm really glad she's learning to have fun.

And I thought I had something else to say, but now I can't remember what it was, so that's all for now. I hope you all are doing well! Thanks for continuing to read!

New Day, New 'tude

In a 180 degree turnaround from yesterday, today I am in a great mood. I'm full of energy (the soda I'm drinking might be helping with that), and I'm all smiles and happiness.

I am a riddle that will constantly keep you guessing. :)

And, in the spirit of this better mood, I bring you: Things that are making me happy today:

1. J
2. Sarah, Jamie and Debbie (their boss)
3. Diet Pepsi
4. Winning a free soda with the cap of the one I'm drinking. Woo!
5. The chocolate chip muffin I had at lunch. Yum.
6. My pants are fitting looser than they did last week, even though I haven't lost any weight (strange).
7. Drawing good teams in the office NCAA basketball pool thing (Texas and Butler for me, Maryland for J).
8. I'll be getting my office area back to myself next week, which means I can once again turn my music up a little bit higher.
9. Ice Breakers sours.
10. Getting a couple of compliments at work.
11. Sims stories online (they keep me sane between tasks at work). For those of you who aren't Sims people, these are stories that people write around the Sims that they're playing in their game. They upload the albums online for people to read. There are some incredibly bad ones out there, but there are also some really good ones, and the good ones are fun ways to pass time. Also, they have the side effect of making me want to play my game, and the best ones make me want to write, too.
12. That it got up to 60 degrees outside today. I love spring!
13. That J tarped my roof, where the shingles need to be replaced, so I don't have to worry about it raining into my living room. Yay!
14. Getting stuff done at work.
15. Writing in here. :)

Things that are annoying me today

1. Work
2. PMS
3. That Jamie is being moved out of our building at work, to the other side of campus. :( We’ll miss him.
4. Moodiness
5. My inability to get my eating back under control.
6. Being broke.
7. My stinky, worn out shoes.
8. That I’ll never win the lottery, because I don’t play it. Sigh.
9. That I have trouble coming up with entry ideas lately, and don’t have the energy to carry forward with the ideas I have. (I had an idea yesterday to write an entry about how J and I went to the movies on Saturday, and we had to wait outside the theater doors, because the previous showing was still running, and we actually talked to the people around us, making small connections where we would normally have not even paid them any attention at all. It was going to be a well written entry that you would have loved, but sadly, it never saw the light of day. Sigh.)
10. That I need to do my taxes, and I’m afraid I’ll have to pay, and I am broke (see number 6).
11. Sitting outside of my boss’ office, with a steady stream of people coming in and out and stopping to chat, when I just want to be alone to do what I need to do.
12. Life in general, right now, excluding certain people (J, Sarah, Jamie, Sally) and certain animals.
13. Yahoo radio, which keeps playing me unrated stuff on a channel that I have set to play my favorites. Sigh.
14. It’s hot in my office. I hate being hot.
15. That after I wrote number 13, Yahoo tried to redeem themselves by playing Chuck Berry. Grr. You can’t get me in a good mood that easily, sorry Yahoo.
16. Me, for writing about stuff that is annoying me. Like you really want to read that! Geez. I’ll be in a better mood next time I write, I promise.

So this is what alone was like...

So, apparently I’ve forgotten how to be alone in my own house. J has been off on a mini-training thing for work, so I’ve been on my own for a few days. I knew I would miss him, but I didn’t know how weird it would be. For a house with nine (9!!!) animals in it, it gets awfully quiet there at night when I’m the only person there! The animals all lie down and go to sleep shortly after they get their dinner, and then it’s just me. Me, sitting at my Sims computer, playing and watching TV at the same time. And then I get bored, so I read. And I get lonely, and jump for the phone when it rings. And I wonder, how in the world did I used to spend just about every single night of my life alone, and not lose my mind? I mean, seriously.

Of course, I haven’t turned my IM on, either. That would help, because I could chat with Sarah if she’s online, or I could pester Jamie. I’m kind of out of the IM habit, though, so I didn’t even think of it. Oh well.

And living alone for these few days has been bad for me in other ways – I’ve completely regressed on my eating habits. When J is there, we somehow manage to have real food for dinner every night. Even if it’s just hot dogs and frozen French fries, we cook something up. It’s worth the effort if there are two people eating it. But since I’ve been by myself I haven’t cooked a damn thing. Monday night I had pretzel nuggets and cheese (soft cheddar cheese, that the pretzels get dipped into, yum) for dinner. Tuesday night I had a potato chip sandwich and a Krispy Kreme donut. Wednesday it was the pretzels and cheese again. Yup. It’s bad. Of course, the reason I was eating those things is because we didn’t get groceries this weekend, and I was out of real food for the most part (at least without thawing something out). Not that I would have cooked real food anyway, but at least I would have gotten some cereal and milk and had that for dinner. I was going to get groceries Monday night, but the weather was really bad, and the roads were worse, so I went straight home and stayed there. Tuesday night I couldn’t get groceries, because I had to go to a meeting after work and then I had to go straight home to take care of the dogs. The food situation got pretty desperate at that point, but the personal hygiene situation was even worse. I would have run out of body wash today, and I ran out of deodorant on Wednesday. Luckily the weather got better, and I got groceries after work on Wednesday, so my coworkers didn’t need to avert their noses when I walked by. :) But, even though I got groceries last night, I still ate pretzels and cheese for dinner. Hee.

Still, though – it turns out that you only have to live the life of a couple for a short while before you completely forget how to be single without losing your mind. I’m going to be so glad to see J walk back in that door tonight. I missed you, J! I knew I would, but I didn’t know how much.

Grateful

Things for which I am grateful today:

*My J.
*My friends.
*My family.
*Sims 2 Seasons, which I love.
*Also, that I got to play it last night and get to play it tonight, too.
*That J is going to sit with me while I play it tonight, and feign interest, because he’s sweet that way.
*A sunny day before the ice storm we’re supposed to get tonight. Sigh.
*My dogs.
*My cats
*J’s dogs.
*Especially McDuff, who is just cuter than any dog should ever be allowed to be.
*Internet radio.
*That I’ll have enough paid time off (PTO) to cover my sick days from last week, so my paycheck won’t be short.
*That I accrue more PTO every day that I work.
*My mp3 player.
*That I just overheard a coworker ask another coworker if August was the 8th month. Ha! Did she really need verification on that?
*All of the wonderful blogs that I read on a daily basis (see sidebar).
*Sims stories on the Sims2 website.
*Lactaid chocolate milk (which I’m almost out of, hint hint).
*Adobe Illustrator, which makes my job kind of fun sometimes.
*My job. As much as I would rather be at home all day, I’m grateful to have a decent job working for a decent company.
*Stupid state laws: http://www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states/new-york/
*Payment plans. I got hit with a bill from NY State for over $500, because an error was made on my taxes in 2003. Ugh! Also, my stupid insurance won’t cover the lab work from a routine physical, because the doctor put down that she was ordering it “because of family history.” Blue Cross/Blue Shield Excellus sucks. But payment plans save my life.
*The new banner that Sarah made for my site, so that it could stop looking all wintery. Thank you Sarah! (Look for it to be up soon.)
*That Gracie didn't get hurt yesterday, when she ran into the kitchen like her tail was on fire, jumped up to the top of the fridge, and ran into the water box (there is a picture of Zelda in it in the previous entry), knocking it, and herself, off the fridge onto the floor. Hee. Silly Gracie.
*That all you fine people stop by here to read my quiet little blog about my quiet little life.