how do you live so happily while i am sad and broken down?

Back on another airplane.

I got home Saturday morning at around 11 am, then crashed until about 1:30 because I only slept a couple of hours on the plane. Ugh, I hate red-eyes. I only took it because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten home until 6 or 7 pm. When you're only home for a day, those few hours count. Not that I did that much with them - cuddled with the cat, updated my iTunes playlists and bought some new albums because Amazon was having a sale, put pictures on songs that didn't have them because I am anal-retentive and shit like that bugs me. I was going to go to bed at 10, but then my sister called me right then and we ended up talking til 11 or so, and then I stayed up til 1 reading fic. I fail at going to bed early, even when I'm tired!

But I still got good sleep for at least 9 hours, and then I snoozed a bit more after that. I was so tired, I just wanted to sleep. The cats were not down with that though, so eventually I got up and fed them. I had a list of stuff to do around the house, and I got it all done. Including putting nail caps on Cinnamon and giving her her monthly flea treatment. Needless to say, she is now happy to see me go. Poor thing. I have learned to do it during the day, and not the night before I leave, because I lose out on kitty cuddles if I do it at night.

Then I went to yoga class, which was good because I hadn't done anything athletic since Monday. I think I actually fell asleep during the last corpse pose meditation though. Whoops, jet lag. It made me really disoriented when I got up.

Last week was a bit of an eye-opener for me at work. When I learned our new product this spring, I think I was laboring under the delusion that I wouldn't have to train it very often or from scratch, and that is not true. I need to start working on reviewing the product and studying in my off-hours. Sigh. Actually, if I buckle down and do more during my down time at work, I probably won't have to work on it that much after-hours. Must be more strict with myself. It's hard to make it a priority, given that it's about 20% of my workload, but when that 20% is going on, I need to know 100% of the information. So. Yeah, gotta get on that.

So last week I published my first One Direction fic, and subsequently my first AO3 (Archive of Our Own) fic. I've been reading things over there for some time, because I like the simple layout, and there's less posting restrictions character-wise (ie less splitting up of things into multiple posts.) I like the kudos feature, and the statistics tracking (although I'm wondering if I count into that if I open the page too - hope not!) So now I'm thinking I'll go post my old stories over there too. It's not like I have that many, it shouldn't take too terribly long. Yay for not being prolific? \o?

Both 15 year old kid next to me and whoever's in the seat in front of me have iPads. I am super, super jealous. Must lose weight faster! Speaking of, I'm down another pound, which puts me basically where I was in February before I went travelling for 5 weeks and lost my mind thinking I could not exercise and eat whatever I wanted to. My goal for the week is to go to the gym Monday and Wednesday while I'm onsite.

Note for harriet_vane and anyone else who cares about One Direction these days: Listen to 'In the Shadows' by The Rasmus. I think this is what Harry will sound like when he grows up. Oh, and apparently I'm accidentally following them around on their tour. Last week, San Diego and tonight we are both in Phoenix. If they show up in Columbus next week, it's just going to get creepy.

 Today, I flew to Orlando for my last work trip of 2011!  Whee!  So ready for Christmas break!  But at least today was an easy day for me, I just had to fly here.

Which is good because when I got here I was so exhausted I had to take a nap.  :(  I am not getting enough sleep lately.  Wonder why, given that here it is, 1 AM and I'm still playing around on the computer when I have to be up again in 7 hours.  Why do I never learn?

I woke up from my nap because I got a text message.  It was from this guy I've been chatting with off a dating site.  He seems pretty nice, but part of me is wondering why I'm even bothering because he lives almost two hours away from me.  How would that even work? But I keep talking to him, because it's not like there's anyone else flirting with me.  Or at least not anyone that I want to flirt back with.  I guess we'll see.  Maybe he just really enjoys driving to Atlanta.

V. good. Would watch again, and in true HBO fashion, I'm about to.

Anyway, I enjoyed it. I haven't read the books, so I'm all confused about the kingdoms and all, but it left me wanting to see more. Not more skin though, because heaven knows they showed enough of that. Also, apparently in WhateverLandia, they can only do it doggie-style. LOL, HBO, LOL.

For a brief moment, I saw an advertisement that I thought meant HBO was allowing people to watch HBO streaming online for a fee. But it seems to be only people who already have HBO that can do this. WTF kind of business model is that?

I'm in South Beach, Florida this week. It's going to be a long week, work-wise, as I am training rather than interfacing. Eight hours of standing on my feet, talking. The hotel I'm at is nice, and right on the beach.

But their wifi which can't even load facebook is going to end me.

The rest of my weekend was kind of dull - Friday night tennis got rained out, but I still had a nice dinner with friends. I got my lawn mower back from Sears, and all the repairs were covered under warranty. I tried and failed to go to the Dogwood festival - no place to park, gave up. I finished sewing patches and gluing buttons onto my messenger bag, and learned how to use my hot glue gun (which was stupidly easy - plug in, put glue in, squeeze trigger, try not to get glue on everything.)

Mostly I just watched Coachella's live webcast all weekend and stayed up far too late.



*Written at 10pm, Sunday, April 17. Not posted til now due to aforementioned faily hotel wi-fi.

Day 27: This month, in great detail

December 28:
Slept in, had lunch with Mom & Dad. I went to Wal Mart while Dad went to the doctor's - he's come down with a bad sinus infection/bronchitis thing. :( I picked up all the things on their list, and bought the birthday/anniversary cards for tomorrow's dinner, as well as a pastry brush for my mom for her birthday because she mentioned this week that she'd had to throw her old one away but kept forgetting to get a new one. Never say stuff like that around me, it tends to get you that thing, no matter how silly it is. Also, I almost bought a jigsaw puzzle set because for some reason I've been really wanting to put one together over this vacation, but I talked myself out of it because I knew my sister wanted to play cards tonight. Maybe I will look for it on sale at my Walmart when I get home. Anyway, I was wandering around the store, killing time waiting for my dad to get done at the doctor, and I saw the craft aisle so I looked at the yarn for a minute. Then I saw that Electronics was nearby so I thought I'd see how much a small TV would cost as I want one for my office. Then this happened:

My Internal Voice: "Damn, this cart has a wonky wheel."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. Wouldn't it have been wonky the entire 45 minutes you've already been shopping? Why is it just now bad?"
I look down, see the yarn that is quickly winding its way around one of the wheels. "SHIT."
I pull into an aisle and start tugging uselessly at the yarn.
My Internal Voice: "Ugh, it won't come off. Ew, I'm touching wheel grease, this is gross."
Part of My Brain That Actually Pays Attention to Life: "Um. The craft aisle was about 8 aisles back. Have you been trailing yarn this entire time like a dumbass?"

For the record, I had not. I had only been trailing about 15 feet of yarn like a dumbass. I had to get TWO Walmart employees to help me, one of which I asked for assistance and the other who FOLLOWED THE TRAIL OF THE MOVING YARN TO SEE WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON. This is my life.

I managed to not have any more accidents and Dad came and got me, and we went to the pharmacy to get his medicine. We chatted with Emory Melton, one of the few people I recognize in town these days and I helped find batteries for his hearing aid because the pharmacy was packed! Then we came home and I got on the internet for a while, then I helped make soup, and then we played cards. My sister and I won three games in a row - we were unbeatable! So we stopped to buy lottery tickets on the way home in case our good luck continued. We then learned that you cannot buy lottery tickets after 10 PM in Cassville MO. We are not sure if that was a state law or a gas station rule. I kind of lean toward it being a "the lady in the back didn't want to teach the new girl how to do it" rule, but that's just me. So we bought 4 scratch off tickets instead. Then my sister had to teach me how to play because I had never bought one before (still haven't, as she paid for them) and didn't understand. 4 tickets at $2 each, and they were all a bust except one, where we won the $2 back. No free money for us! :(

December 29:
Met my best friend's mother in town for lunch and caught up with her - she seems much happier than she has been any time I've seen her post-divorce. Then I went to Springfield with my parents and went to Best Buy. I am going to get a new radio for my car, because I am tired of messing with FM transmitters. Oddly enough, replacing the radio is not that much more expensive. Okay, it's 2-3 times more expensive, but has less chance of me dying in a fiery crash because the damn thing went staticky. Coming soon: Free to good home, one FM transmitter. Works well if you do not live in a major metropolitan area. Ugh. Anyway, I selected the radio I wanted only to find out that they couldn't install it that day, so I will have to do it on Friday after I'm home so that I don't miss the sale price. Also, may have talked my dad into getting a wireless router by telling him it would make us all want to hang out at their house when we're home. True, and sad, I know. I miss wifi. I miss internet. But I love my family. Speaking of which, we then went to our annual Birthday/Anniversary Extravaganza at Jimm's (first time at this restaurant - I realize that made it sound like we do this annually at Jimm's but I'm too lazy to fix it.) I was not expecting Jimm's to have two M's. But the food was decent and it was good to see everyone one last time before I have to head home in the morning. I came back to my sister's after saying goodbye to my parents (sniff) and packed everything up. I am definitely leaving with more than I came with! My mom gave me a knife tonight because I commented on how sharp it was when I was slicing veggies at her house. So far, I've nearly stabbed myself in the foot with it; perhaps I should not have sharp things.

December 30:
Driving, driving, more driving. I let the cat out to stretch her legs in Conway and she peed on the car seat. :( It wasn't her fault though; she was trying to use the litter box but just missed. After 13 lovely hours, many of which were filled with yowling cat, we are both happy to be home. And in anticipation of my New Year's resolution (more coming soon!) I have unpacked and put away almost everything. Then I stayed up far too late embracing the marvel of wi-fi. Oh, how I have missed it!



Day 28: This year, in great detail
Day 29: Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30: Whatever tickles your fancy

My Hawaii photos

My Alaska photos

You should be able to view these photos even if you aren't on Facebook, although I'm sure they'll try to convince you that you should join.

I'm in my hotel room in Vancouver, playing on the internet and watching tv. Also in Vancouver tonight are Adam Lambert and the rest of the American Idol contestants, and probably the actors from my favorite tv show, Supernatural, which should be starting to film again soon. I, however, have no desire to get off this couch. I fail at stalking.

I go home tomorrow! I am so, so, sooooooooooooooooo excited about this prospect. I miss my house, my cat, my couch, my tv, my hobbies, my tennis team, my friends, my own internet connection. 12 days is a long time.

Also, on Monday, my nephew's wife gave birth to their son! I am a great-aunt! His name is Brody and he's doing well - he has a small problem with his lungs, but they say it's not a big deal. I missed his arrival by 24 hours. *pouts* Although honestly it's for the best because if she'd gone into labor on Sunday, I would have had to leave in the middle and that would have sucked. I was thinking about it this morning, and I decided I am going to make my mom a cross-stitched family tree for Christmas - it's always hard to buy stuff for her, but I think she'd really like this, and I ordered the kit today - if I start now, I should be able to get it done by Christmas.

I feel like I haven't updated in forever, even though I know I tweet everyday so you probably know what I'm up to anyway. Weird how twitter can make you feel so connected and so disconnected at the same time. Then again, twitter arouses a lot of conflicting thoughts in me, but that's for another day.

I'm flying home from Vancouver, and it's been a long, long day. My plane lands in Atlanta at midnight, which means if I'm lucky I'll be home by 1:30. I connected through Los Angeles, and I had forgotten that LAX is of the devil. To get from the terminal that I landed in to the one I was flying out of, I had to go outside, through 3 parking structures, across 2 sky bridges, down an elevator and an escalator, then back outside and down a sidewalk about 500 feet. Then I had to go through security again, of course, because I was outside - bad planning! Plus I had to throw away half a diet coke because I couldn't take it through security. :((( Fail, LAX, fail.

And now I'm on the plane, and I'm tired and I have a headache, and I really should be working because I have a million documents I need to be updating but I just can't do it right now. Monday is another day. I don't know that I ever said why I was in Vancouver for so long - my company is integrating with a new front office vendor, and this was meant to be end-to-end testing and a corporate consultation for the client who has agreed to roll it out first. The testing I was observing, and then doing the consultation. Unfortunately, the testing didn't go so great, so we're pushing the roll out for a bit. I did my part with the consultation, so that's as done as it can be til we have the final answers on some of the problems that were discovered, but now I have a ton of documentation to update.

It would have helped more if my health was better. I am mostly over the flu, just an occasional cough now, but it took a lot out of me and we were working some really long days. The last couple of days I've been losing my voice. I'm hoping that will go away soon and am dousing myself in vitamin C daily. In some ways, I feel like I've lost a month. Between getting sick and travelling, it's been nothing but work and sleep. I have some photos from the weekend, from my brief excursions around Stanley Park and Granville Island. If my battery holds out, I'll go through them now and try to post them when I get home.

Hope your lives are more exciting than mine! Also, whoever picked Marley & Me as the inflight movie is a sadist who likes to watch me people cry in public.


*Actually a song in the playlist I'm listening to right now. What are the odds?


ETA: Home at ten til 2. Not bad considering there were tornadoes in the Atlanta area tonight.

Back online after an almost nine day absence. This may be the longest I've been away when I wasn't actually out of the country. It was kind of nice. I had to think for a minute to remember my password.

So far I have 152 emails on AOL, 32 for work, and I can't even get gmail to load. It's possible that the free wi-fi at Panera is a bit crappy. My sister dropped me off, so this is also the first time in 9 days that I am not around any of my family. Also kind of nice :) Not that it isn't great to be home, but it's good to take a break sometimes too.

My vacation so far:

Saturday: Got up at ass o'clock to go to the airport. Landed in NW Arkansas at 9:30 am. Met up with family to kill time until my brother and his wife got there, much delayed. They live in Boston, and were flying through Chicago. Of course, there was a giant snowstorm, of course. While at the airport they ran into my best friend's dad, who was trying to pick her up on her flight in from Maine. She was supposed to be there by 1pm, finally made it in at almost 10.

Sunday: Went to Rogers AR to go to an open house at the gallery my sister works at. Went to see my dad sing at the Christmas cantata. Accidentally said "OH MY GOD" in church. In my defense, they were having birthday cake for Jesus. I think anyone would have been surprised.

Monday: Day out of shopping with my two best friends. Met Deb's baby boy, very cute.

Tuesday: Rainy day trip to Eureka Springs, AR to show my cousin Christen's new boyfriend around to such sights as the haunted Crescent Hotel, and the creepy Christ of the Ozarks. Good times.

Wednesday: Annual panicked Christmas Eve shopping with my sister. Then we cemented the new family tradition of going bowling at the Christian bowling alley I accidentally took everyone to last year. Dinner at Olive Garden, got locked out when I went out to get something out of the car for my brother. FYI, Olive Garden has fucked up policies. Sat in car to wait for my family to be done (only ten minutes or so, we were leaving anyway. Mom got the flu, had to go to the emergency room. She was fine, just a 24 hour bug.

Thursday: Christmas! :D Also, went to see Marley & Me, cried buckets. Am not a dog person, but that puppy running down the beach for all he's worth with four grown people chasing after him was awesome.

Friday: My sister-in-law made Boxing Day dinner, had 30 people over. Then had high school reunion-y type dinner. Saw some people I hadn't seen in a good 15 years, mostly my brother's friends. Was fun, though.

Saturday: Slept in. Dad now has flu. I drown myself in Airborne. Took my brother and his wife to the airport, where they had just as much trouble leaving as they had getting in. Chicago is a great city, but not a good destination from November to March. We were going to go to a movie, but since we weren't sure if their flight was going to be cancelled, we just shopped instead.

And then today I had lunch with my college roommate and her family. She has two little girls, super cute. Another family shindig tonight, to celebrate birthdays (my mom, my brother, my aunt) and anniversaries (my parents, my brother and his wife, my aunt and uncle) in January. Tomorrow's plan? Sit and do nothing! For serious, y'all.

Ok, it should come as no surprise to you that I'm a giant dork.

( I'm a Georgia Voter! )

Ignore the slightly crazed look in my eyes. It's just because I'm trying to work technology before my first caffeine fix. Camera phones are hard, yo.

So I'm in Dallas now. The flight was a bit excruciating, between the screaming baby behind me and his 8-year-old brother kicking the back of my seat and then sitting on the tarmac at DFW for almost two hours because the hydrolics broke when we landed and they couldn't steer the plane. Good times.

In other news:

Pictures from Merida

Pictures from the Halloween Party