Ashley the Writer

Well Hello Stranger!

2010-03-29T03:04:00.002-05:00

Since I can't sleep and I haven't talked to you guys in AGES, I thought I'd post something here. It's been so long that I had forgotten I had this. Nice...

So.

Things are looking up.

I haven't talked to my grandmother since Christmas. For my birthday and Christmas she knocked some money off what I owe her for a gift. I've sent her what I can when I can, but it's been since November since I gave her anything.

I'm still living with "family". They are really cool people who don't mind me coming in at all hours, and let me keep my room messy. I have too much stuff to keep it clean!!! I'm thinking about moving out sometime soon, but we'll see.

My stepfather found a job in Tyler. Which means that my family (the ones that matter, besides my dad) will be moving back to Texas this summer!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. My momma will be only 2 hours away instead of 6. Speaking of which....she had a heart attack in October. She's much better now, but it's still really scary to think of. She's too young and I'm too young for that.

Josh and I broke up in early January. It was a long time coming. Work got to be too much for him especially, and we fell apart. He might have been cheating on me too. Oh well. I'm over him now. It didn't take long, but it still hurt at first. We talk on occasion, but I haven't seen him since then.

I finished school February 12th. I walk July 17th. I actually graduate with one of my coworkers. :)

I love my job. For the first time I can say that unconditionally. I work at a country club. I currently am the PM bar apps/pastry person. I do appetizers and desserts. I make sushi every day, and help with baking cakes, pies, cookies, etc when I have time at night. I've also worked saute, and I can work the middle too. I've expo'd when needed, and I always help on banquets. I've gone outside of work and helped Chef do a special sushi dinner. I have some new awesome friends at work (one of which I'll be graduating with). I'm the only chick at night. :) If only I got paid more.... ;)

I miss my kitties almost every day. I live with two cats, Sunshine and Marie. Every once in a while they will approach me for attention, but they mostly sleep in weird positions all over the house. It's still nice to have their presence though.

My coworkers have invitied me to move in with them. Wayne is the one I'm graduating with. He started 6 weeks after I did, and his last day was Friday. We'll be celebrating soon. He's dating Winter, who is the AM pastry cook. Joey lives with them too. Joey is the PM Sous Chef. They just moved into a two bedroom apartment in Richardson, Galatyn Park area. I love that area. I would live in their den. I'm still trying to think about it, because sometimes a person needs their space. I mean, they're work people. I already see them 6 days a week. Do I really need to spend more time with them?

I think that's all.

My BFF is getting married the end of May. I'm super excited for her. :)

This year is weird.

2009-08-24T15:15:00.001-05:00

Where to begin...

I've been living in my grandmother's house for a little over two years now. When I moved in she told me she'd keep all the bills in her name because she had plans to sell the place. I was essentially house sitting for her, and I would send her a check once a month for all of the utilities (electricity, gas, trash, property taxes, lot fees, rental insurance, etc). Bills were anywhere from $250 to $400 a month. A year goes by, with little problems. I mow the lawn, and do any repairs necessary on the property out of my own pocket. I repainted two bedrooms, and she took $70 off of my rent. The paint and supplies costed more than that.

I get into a car accident last summer and essentially lose my job. During that summer while I was recovering, I repainted the master suite. This costed about the same as the other two rooms, but this time I was not reimbursed. I started school again at UTD, found a part time job at Bath and Body Works in November, and blew through my savings because I wasn't able to find a full time job. I started culinary school in November, and added to my debt (which really has nothing to do with this). During all of this, I get a lawyer and begin a lawsuit to pay for my medical expenses and punitive damages (including lost wages).

Each month, my grandmother would call me with the monthly bill. The first year we would talk about once a week, just to see how things were. Then it went to every other week, and now it's only to tell me how much I owe her.

The last time she visited, in November, pretty much started this whole downward spiral. We were talking, and then she started the next part of the conversation with: "Now, don't tell your mother this, I don't want to upset her..." She asked me to buy the mobile home I live in. With the land, she wanted $53,000 for it. We had, just before this, been discussing the situation with my lawyer and my expectations for the settlement. I was like, wow, um, okay. Let me think about that. I didn't want to come right out and say no, but that was my first thought. Not only is that a ridiculous price, but I don't want to spend part of my life living in Lake Dallas, and I especially don't want to live in a mobile home for that duration. I didn't tell my mom, mainly because I didn't want to deal with it at that time. We never really mentioned it again. I told Mom about it in March because I was stressed about money and she wanted to know why.

January comes around, and I have absolutely no money, and am working about 7 hours a month at BBW. I spent all my Christmas and birthday money on bills and paying utilities to her. I am stressed out. I wait it out a bit longer and get my tax refund money. I'm okay for another month or so. March comes around. I'm completely out of money again. I think this is the time that Dad loans me money. I'm okay for a few weeks. I eventually cash in my 401k from JCPenney and can breathe for a bit. I start working about 7 hours a week instead of month and am able to pay for a few things on my own.

June hits. I have no money and I don't want to ask anyone again for money. Stevie lost his job, so Mom can't help. Lauren (my bff) does everything she can to help me, and finds me a job. I start the 30th. I can't pay Grandma right away, but send her a check for about $100 because that's all I have. I get paid again on July 15th, but it's only for one days work, and my check at BBW is less that I thought. I send her what I can. July 31st rolls around and all my bills are due at the end of the month, so all I can send her is about $100 again.

Let me backtrack a bit...

Grandma's house is on the edge of the Tennessee River, which is steadily eroding. In April or May, it gets so bad that she has to move her house. So, she puts herself into a hotel, and awaits the moving of her house back some feet from the river edge. This takes forever. Every time she called me, she reminded me that she was in a hotel and how much it was costing her (not in actual dollars though) and on and on... July rolls around and it's still not done. By this time, her company is apparently not getting any business, and so she is low on income, much like myself.

So, that might be enough backstory...

The last few times she called me, she made it sound like I needed to pay her immediately so she could pay for her hotel. It didn't matter that I didn't have enough money for groceries or anything and that all of my money was going to her. It didn't matter that I was getting further into debt paying for gas to get to school because I was close to overdrawing every month. All that mattered was that her house still wasn't moved yet and it was costing her all of this money and.... She forgot Stevie's birthday and said she'd send him a card after Mom reminded her. He's yet to receive it (his birthday was 7/3). She never talks to my brother on the phone, and never asks about him. She was all aflutter because my uncle and cousin were coming to visit and the house still wasn't ready for them.

Yeah, anyway...I borrow money from Josh to pay my credit card bills because all of the money I had for anything ever went to her. She called me about a week and a half ago and said that I owed her $700 and I needed to do something about it immediately or find some way to do it. She said she was being patient, but her company isn't doing any business right now and they're still trying to pay for this house. There felt like there was an implied "or else" in there.

She called while I was at school. She always calls when I'm at school.

I burst into tears, of course. What else can I do? I go to school 25 hours a week. I work 20 hours a week at one job, and 7 to 16 hours a week at another job. Am I supposed to get a third job? Should I sell plasma?
I cancelled my internet. My air conditioning was already broken, so I keep that off and just run one fan. I spend a lot of time out of my house because it's so hot. I eat everything in my pantry so I don't buy groceries. I spend a lot of time with Josh for food and so I don't die of heat exhaustion. It's August...

I called my momma. I forwarded her the voicemail Grandma had left me. Mom was livid and called her. Mom and I decided that I needed to move out, right away, because there was nothing left for me to do. I'm supposed to be out by the end of the month. Mom told her to not call me again, and any communication should be by mail or through her.

The next day I get a call from Grandma while I'm at school. She's all sad and doesn't understand why I'm moving out, and that's not what she said, but I need to find some way to pay her now.

Then I get a letter. Mom gets a copy of it too, and tells me to toss it before I read it. So I do. I wish I had kept it, but, oh well.

That brings me to this week, more or less. I'm moving out. I get my storage unit today (Monday) and move in to my new place tomorrow. Oh, the thing is, I didn't have a place or any idea of where I was going to move to. Luckily, I have an awesome stepfamily, and am moving to Plano. I'm moving in with Stevie's brother's wife's cousin and her family. I'll have one room for about $100/month. Anyway...

Everything is getting to be okay, except for one thing. I have to get rid of my kitties. And I'm avoiding thinking about it because I really don't want to, but I don't have a choice.

Does anyone want two kitties? They aren't fixed or declawed, but I'd give them to anyone with their bowls and food and litter box... They were both born outside. Minerva is fiesty but will be petted, and Virginia is a sweety. She loves to be petted. Minerva is a silver tabby mutt, and Virginia is a calico. They are both about 2 years old.

2009-07-13T17:54:00.001-05:00

How does using the revolving door help with going green? Is it because of cooling costs?

2009-05-02T23:15:00.001-05:00

So I set up mobile posting. I dont know if that will help with my actual rate of posting but it cant hurt it!

Small Things

2009-04-03T22:35:00.001-05:00

I was tagged by Nicole. So, do I take this literally or figuratively? ;)

My kitties are very petite, almost anorexic. It made me laugh earlier to hear them attack the windows because they saw something outside they needed.

I love talking to my BFF about the most random things. This is why we are friends. We can rant about the same things (like boys and bras), and then interrupt each other with something completely random. :) Like we were talking about her new job, and then she interrupts herself by saying: I like how the things in style are micro skirts and maxi dresses (which, btw, I now have two of, and I love love love this style).

Mini M&M's are awesome.

Having my toenails painted a random color. I'm about to paint them royal blue.

14 things

2009-03-01T14:28:00.005-06:00

Bah, now that Quyen has done it, I have to. :P

14 things I love....

1. Lightning. I absolutely love thunderstorms, and watching lightning is amazing. The sheer power is just...

2. The Sims. I remember when the first generation came out, and not having any interest in it (much like my experience with Harry Potter...). Then I get to college and my roommate played it. I would sit and watch her for hours. Then I put it on my computer, then I bought my own copy, then The Sims 2 came out and that was probably my favorite present for my 21st birthday. And now, The Sims 3 comes out this year. YAY!

3. Reading. I love books, though I hate libraries.

4. Cooking. Which is why I'm in culinary school. ;)

5. Kitties. I don't care what they look like, though I prefer the ones with hair. The ones without don't look like kitties.

6. School supplies. Omg, I have waxed lyrical on this before. Many times. August is my favorite month because of the school supplies aisle at Wal-Mart. I can literally spend hours just staring at the notebooks, pens, binders, post-its, folders, calenders/dayplanners, etc. Just thinking about it has me drooling...

7. Fit flops. Not your average flip flops, though I love those in general.

8. Crocs. So, I probably should have just done one number for shoes, but I need to stretch my list out, so hey! I have purple ones, not to mention 3 other styles, but I want orange and green ones too.

9. Board games. Especially the ones I played as a child.

10. Eliptical trainers. If I have to go to a gym, I expect enough of these that I can get on one immediately. I love them, because I hate running, and this burns more calories than a bike or stairstepper.

11. Candles. Or just things that make my house smell good in general.

12. Social networking sites. I am addicted. Right now, my site of choice is facebook, but that's only because so many people I know are just now getting started with it. I have about 6 or 7 of them, though I don't check them all the time. Just facebook, about 6 times a day. It's ridiculous, I know.

13. Body products. Shampoos, makeup, body washes, bubble baths, curling irons, fingernail polish....all that good stuff.

14. I had a good one for this number, but I've forgotten it. So, I'll have to think about it. Friends are good. Chocolate is good. Sitting around doing nothing is good.... ;)

another lolcat

2009-02-01T21:19:00.000-06:00

Tagged!

2009-02-01T19:25:00.008-06:00

Here are the tag rules:
1. Go to where you store your digital photo folders. Open the 4th folder.
2. Go to the 4th picture and post it.
3. Explain the picture.
4. Tag an additional 4 people.

Apparently I was tagged and didn't realize it. And as I only have the people who have already done this as watchers, I shall refrain from tagging.
Yes, it's sideways. I'm too lazy to change it. This is Jonathan. He is doing dishes. Which is why I took the picture. It's dated June 14th, 2004, but I disagree with that. This is at his apartment in Plano, which he didn't have until 2006-2007. So.... I'm going to find a different picture.
This is from Valentine's Day 2007. It's Jonathan, again. The cookie cake says Happy V-Day Sugar Buns. XD
Let's see if I have a non-Jono picture. Geez, you'd think we'd dated for almost 7 years or something...

This is a picture from UTD. The skies are pretty...I was in Jonathan's car, waiting for him outside the ATEC building...probably around the time he graduated. Hmm....this is getting ridiculous.

Aww.....this is my baby! This is Minerva, the night I got her. Look how big her belly is! Isn't she a cute little thing? She was so curious.... *sniffles* Oh how my baby has grown!

Now I'm just going to post random pictures because it's fun. :)
This is my BFF Lauren and I on her birthday this summer. We had just gotten facials, pedicures, and our hair did. :) It was so much fun! Neither of us has had a haircut since then, though....
Last picture. This is Minerva sometime in the fall. She's all big and freaked out because Adam brought his dog over so we could see what my kitties would do. Virginia immediately took off running and hid in the bathroom behind the toilet. Minerva freaked out and knocked all sorts of stuff over, finally settling on the piano and hissing as fiercly as she could, her back ridged up and her tail all huge. :) She's still my baby...

HEE!

2009-01-11T10:39:00.001-06:00

I'll be it! I'll be your crazy lady!

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-02T15:37:00.005-06:00

May 2009 be so much better than 2008!!!

So, after the crazy party on New Year's Eve, my bff and I, along with another friend Jillian went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. It was tres yummy, and I recommend it to everyone! I had a ham and cheddar croissant with their breakfast potatoes. I ate it all, plus 4 cups of tea, and two glasses of water. I was dehydrated! :P Anyway, my mother recommends the stuffed French toast, which I will have next time I go.

When we were done breakfasting, we went back to my bff Lauren's house, and cleaned up after the party. There were so many spills, so it took a while mopping the floor (which she did) and doing dishes (which I helped with). Then we sat around for a bit, trying to decide what to do. Finally we went to Lowe's and looked around forever, in the crappy garden section and the way awesome appliances section. We picked out some paint, she bought two gallons and we went back to her house to paint. Being the good friend that I am, I told her I would help.

The pictures above are the original pictures. See that lovely border? It sucks. So hard. We started around 8pm-ish, taking everything out of the room, and getting it taped and stuff. Lauren taped everything but above the doors, which I did for her as I have a slightly longer reach. Daniel and I took off the top layer of the horrific border while she did the taping. After we scored the bottom layer and sprayed it down it was about 8:30. We took a short break to let it sit, and then returned right before 9pm.

The border wouldn't come off. We all took turns scraping and scraping and spraying and waiting and scraping and wiping and it still didn't come off very well. We had two ladders, one scraper and very little patience for the border. It was sooooo awful! Daniel was the only one that could reach the high stuff as Lauren and I don't like ladders. I literally cannot stand above the second rung unless I have someone holding the ladder and me and a tarp or something. It's ridiculous. One of the ladders was uber rickety, so that didn't help either. Anyway, we got one whole wall scraped, so Lauren and I started painting. Then when the roller part was done Lauren detailed while I worked on another wall to scrape. It took forever! I left at 12:30am and the last bit of border that we could scrape off was off and the wall was mostly finished. We didn't get all the border off, but the wall is textured so it was slightly okay to leave some pieces. Ugh.

This is what it looked like when I left. That's the rickety ladder that I used. It had bigger rungs to step on and was slightly more comfortable to stand on despite the rickety-ness. I didn't stay for the trimming in of the ceiling, as I was tired and had an hour drive ahead of me. I helped pick out the color. :) It's pretty, or it will be when everything is finished. They are planning to do a second coat today, and then everything will be moved back in after it's dry.

Oh, yeah. Behind the border it was white, while the rest of the walls were pink. We didn't prime, so it's slightly noticeable where the division of color was. Lauren is trying to figure out a way to fix it, but I think once the second coat is on there, and curtains are up and things are in the room and the light fixture is changed it won't be as noticeable.

So, today, I am cleaning. My house is a mess, especially the living room and kitchen. I didn't get a chance to clean before I left for Arkansas, so crap is everywhere. Like pieces of fabric and wrapping paper and ugh. I've finished the living room, including taking down my tree and Christmas decorations. I took a break to look at pictures and stuff, and to type this blog. Then I'll move on to the kitchen. I'll work on the office and my bedroom tomorrow.

Odd, and off topic. I just got a random phone call. Back when I had had my phone for about a year, when I was a sophomore, I used to get calls all the time for someone named Scott. One person kept calling and calling because they didn't believe me when I told them I don't even know someone named Scott (and I don't, and haven't since I was in 4th grade!). Finally it stopped. Just now, I got a call asking for Scott McDonald. She asked if I knew him, and I was like no I don't. She said she'd make sure my number was removed. Now, what's all that about? Weird....

lolcat

2008-12-17T13:23:00.001-06:00

best lolcat ever

Not much is new. I was actually able to get some time off this Christmas from work. WOW! I'll be leaving straight from my final on Tuesday and heading to Arkansas for a week. I'll be coming back on the 30th, in time to do some laundry and rest up for the big New Year's Partay. :)

I am making a most excellent dish for the Christmas party we're having tomorrow. I'm so excited to taste it...I can't stand it! The batter was excellent, and I'll make the glaze tomorrow, and omg it smells soooo good! I'll post the recipe after tomorrow, because I want it to be a surprise.

Day 30

2008-11-30T15:43:00.002-06:00

Oops. I inadvertently quit NaNoWriMo. I've been busy and stuff, and at least I got further this year than I did last year.
I'm just happy this stressful year is over (or will be shortly).

Wordcount: 33,464.

I got over halfway. I think I did pretty well considering I didn't write for almost half of the month. I got a great start, and had a few really good days, but overall I didn't win this year. Oh well. I got tired of writing it about halfway through. I thought about changing my story, but instead I changed a few plot points. But it still wasn't enough.

I'm still proud of what I have accomplished. With everything else that has gone on this month, I think I did very well. :)

I broke up with Adam. It's been about a week now. I feel like a major bitch (there's no other word for it, honestly), but at the same time I feel a bit relieved. I don't feel like I'm stringing him along, or just not caring enough for him.

I have two finals this week, so pray for me.

:)

Day 11

2008-11-11T13:33:00.002-06:00

OMG I've been sooo busy lately! And it's not about to end for at least another week.

Last night's word count: 18699. I haven't written anything today.

I'm in Allen. The dogs have been chewing on their bones since I got here. Straight. I don't have to entertain or really watch them at all today.... So far at least. :P

So, I started culinary school yesterday. I woke up at 4:30am to iron my stuff and get ready and stuff. It was all lecture yesterday. There are soooo many people in my class! We should only have about half the people we do, so with 37 of us it's really cramped. Today was also lecture, but we also got to start using our knives! We made French fries! We had to first make sure we held our knives properly, then we rinsed the potatoes off and had to cut them. We used the batonnet cut, which is a 2in by 1/4in by 1/4in cut. It's hard to do, actually, and make it square. With practice I'll be better, but right now I probably only had three or four perfect cuts out of four potatoes. Tomorrow we practice more, and we talk about the different types of knives and other equipment. Next Friday, we have this ginormous spice and equipment test. Since the school opened (or reopened, I'm not sure, but it's fairly recent), there have been only 10 perfect scores. There are 90 spices and peppers to identify by taste, touch and smell alone. Some are fresh, some are dried. And then there's a 42 question test on identifying the equipment. I started preparing for the spice test today but writing all the spices down. Tomorrow morning I'll get my samples and label them to start studying. People have failed and all the rest of the school is like study study study or you won't do well at all. It's even worse because you get counted off for incorrect spelling.

Anyway, I thought I'd update while I had an extra minute. I have a presentation, and two papers due tomorrow, another presentation and paper due next Wednesday. I have to start studying for the spice test, I work this weekend, and my grandmother is in town. SO BUSY!

Day 6

2008-11-06T22:41:00.002-06:00

I wrote almost exactly 3000 words today. Yay!

Total wordcount: 13473.

On the website, the DFW are moved to 15th place overall! On the 2nd we were in 21st place. Go us! Seattle as usual is in first. I think two years ago the highest we were was 11th place.

Day 5

2008-11-05T23:31:00.003-06:00

I was not able to write at all yesterday for NaNoWriMo, but luckily I was enough ahead in the wordcount that it didn't matter all that much.

Word count: 10,474.

Around the 9K mark I finally figured out a big chunk of my plot, which is very exciting!

woo hoo! I've hit the 10K mark. I'm only about 200 or so words away from where I quit last year, so I'm pretty excited about that. I should make it this year, but the real challenge starts next week. I start culinary school on Monday, so my schedule is about to have a drastic change.

I hope those that are participating still are. I know I'm having a blast doing this!

Day 3

2008-11-03T22:13:00.003-06:00

Total word count: 8624.

I participated in three word wars today. Each of them were for 15 minutes, and I wrote just over 800 words on each of them.

I'm ahead of schedule, but the next two days are going to be kind of crazy for me, and I don't know how much writing I'll get done.

I plan on getting up early to vote, and if it doesn't take too long I'll come back home and take a nap before I go dogsitting. We have a test tomorrow, and a major paper due the week after, so Lauren and I are going to work on that after she gets home from work, which means I'll be staying in Allen all day tomorrow.

I hope everyone votes that can. It's a very important election even though Texas is not a swing state. There are still other offices to be won besides the presidency. Interesting fact: My dad lives in Missouri, which is often a swing state. He said that if 15 more people per district would have voted Democratic, Missouri's electoral votes would have gone to Kerry. Missouri has 11 electoral votes. That would still not have won the election for Kerry, but it still goes to show that every vote counts. (I was not a Kerry supporter. I was one of the 411,304 that voted for Nader) Just imagine if 15 more people would have voted in every county!

There, I'm done. One of the rare times you'll hear me preach about politics because I realize I'm an outcast here in Texas. And that's all I'll say about that. See you on the flipside.

Day 2

2008-11-02T23:59:00.001-06:00

Total word count: 3830. Still in the mood to write.

Wordcount

2008-11-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

990 so far.

I didn't get to write much today. Was very busy. And now I'm very tired, so this is short.

Update on WYE

2008-10-27T18:02:00.002-05:00

WYE is worst year ever, in case you've forgotten.

My old cat just died. I got him for Christmas after I turned 12. He would have been 13 years old on November 7th. RIP Budrow. Mom said they buried him in the back yard, and she's going to make a marker for him. It was kind of a shock, at first, but I know he's been sick and stuff for the past couple of weeks. I'm sad, cuz I loved that kitty, even though he really became my stepfather's about a month after I got him. But he was soooo little when we first got him; he could fit in the palm of my hand when I was 12! He was so fluffy and silly. And then he grew up to be this huge fat lazy cat who took everything in stride. Demon child? Check. 6 hour drive to new house? Check. Rambunctious Golden Retriever? Check. :)

I'm just glad I have my new kitties, and they're still new. I'm definitely not ready for them to go. And I know I would be worse if I had been able to take Budrow with me to college. But I couldn't have a cat until I moved to Lake Dallas, and by then he had lived in Arkansas for four years....

Just this morning, I was thanking God that this year is almost over. I really can't wait. I'm counting it over once Thanksgiving hits, and hopefully December will be a grace period. I'm tired of this.

Stressed. Out.

2008-10-24T13:20:00.002-05:00

Ugh.

So much stress! And so quickly!

I have been a very busy girl this week. Tuesday I dogsat for Sophie and Tessa. No accidents for Sophie and she actually went to the door when she needed to. Yay! Later, I found out my test score for Marketing Management. EEK! I did some calculations and figured out there's not a realistic way to make a B in the class, which is required of Grad students. Turns out, Lauren is in the same boat as I, and so she prints the paperwork so we can drop the class. I've never dropped a class before. I was kinda sad, in a way. So, we meet in front of the classroom and get our prof to sign the paper. We search and search on the website to see if we need other signatures or not. We can't find anything, so we leave UTD and head to Olive Garden. I celebrated with Pumpkin Cheesecake and was disappointed. My pumpkin cheesecake is waaay better.

Wednesday I have a meeting/interview with a friend of my stepfather's for a job here in Texas. I talk to him for about an hour. The job sounds decent, but there's a lot of driving, with a car allowance though. I tell him I have to think about it because of school and the driving and stuff. I go home for about an hour, and then head to Le Cordon Bleu for a meeting with Beverly, my advisor. She talks me into starting class November 10th. I'm like, hey, why not? It'll be slightly cheaper (rumor has it tuition will go up in February), and I'm only currently in one class. Not a big deal... So I get all excited and schedule the uniform fitting, and financial aid meetings for later. I find out Orientation is November 1st, and I call and make happy noises with Mom and invite her along. Then, I go to school, sit through a long class that doesn't get out until much later than it's supposed to. I get home around 11ish, and am starving...so Adam and I go to IHOP. I get to bed and stuff around 1am.

I got up Thursday morning, extremely exhausted. The past few months I haven't gotten up before noon ever (except like once or twice a month). Because I've been dogsitting, I get up at 9:30 or so. Thursday I have to get up 8:30, but I don't roll out of bed until almost nine. I shower, etc, and realize I don't have any gas. Finally I'm on the road. The uniform fitting is at 10am. I leave Lake Dallas after 9:30. Um..yeah. Not legal driving. But I made it on time, and got sized for shoes and stuff. And had a wonderful sandwich in the restaraunt there at school. :) Then I head to Lauren's to dogsit. The dogs aren't as good as they were on Tuesday. Lots of fighting over a bone, and growling, and an accident or two. But they're still really cute and Tessa slept on me again. I left there around 4:30, made it home, and slept. I got up again at 9ish, printed off my taxes and ate and some other things, and went back to bed at 11:30 or so.

Today, I had the meeting at 10am with the financial aid department. I woke up more rested this morning, though I didn't really sleep all that well. So, I get into the lady's office and she's like, well, since you're in school, you can't get any federal aid until your loan period is up. I'm like wow, and instantly start crying. I can't help it! It's like she told me I couldn't go to school there! It was shock and disappointment and, guh! So I composed myself a bit and talked to the registrar. She looked at my unofficial transcript and said I wouldn't have to take any of the basic courses. YAY! Which doesn't affect the tuition cost until the next half of school. Which means, I have to come up with an approval for $18,000 by November 1st (which is orientation), and possibly the funds by November 10th (when school starts). UGH! I'm happy that I don't have to take the classes, but I'm worried about tuition. I call Mom, and then I call Dad. Dad doesn't answer. I need to go to UTD to drop my class so I go ahead and go there. It's easy as pie to drop the class, as I'm a grad student; I didn't even need the prof's signature. Neat. Then I talk to FinAid there and I found out all I had to do through them is email the officer and ask to go ahead and deny my finaid for next semester so I have the ability to get financial aid in the spring. Then I go to Walmart, Taco Bell, and home.

Dad calls. I had forgotten he's in Wisconsin this weekend, so it's hard to ask him anything. He did say he will cosign a private loan for me, which is a relief. I just need to find out some specifics. Which I have now, but I need to wait to see if he has a Wells Fargo convenient to him. If he wants one. They said they'll do it over the phone. Which is neat. But he can't do it this weekend. Bah. Which is also stressful cuz I want this taken care of NOW!

Adam and I are carving pumpkins tonight.

lol

2008-10-20T22:52:00.001-05:00

more music charts

omg so true (apparently the window is too small to view the chart... click on it to see what i mean!)

Dogs

2008-10-10T18:38:00.004-05:00

This is Tessa. She's about a year and a half old. She's the big sister, and she's crazy. She's got a great personality and loves attention! I was trying to take a picture of her when she was further away, but she decided this was her best side. ;)
She's a Basset Hound. She's got the droopy ears, the big paws and everything. She thinks she's a lap dog, but, of course, she's not. She also thinks she's a ferocious guard dog. Whenever something sounds like a door bell, or it sounds like someone is knocking at the front door, she instantly takes off and starts barking and jumping to get your attention.

This is Sophie. She's brand new, only about 8 weeks (I think). She's only been at my best friends house for two weeks. I've been hired to help watch her twice a week so they have better luck house training her. She may be little, but she sure likes to eat! She'll drink gallons of water if you'll let her, and she'll eat anything that even looks like food.
She's had a few accidents, but haven't we all? She's so cute and chubby, and looks a lot like her big sister, so they call her Mini-Me. I call her Short Stuff.

I have a lot of fun in the four hours I spend with them twice a week. This Thursday, all they did was sleep!

Isn't she pathetic looking? She's all wrinkly and droopy and Tessa's got her big fat paw on Sophie's stomach... As you can see, at one point there were five of us on the couch, all of us (except for me, sadly) asleep: Orion (the grey cat closest to the camera), Ada (the dark butt you see at the end of the couch), Tessa, Sophie and I.
:)
A!

hee

2008-10-10T12:06:00.001-05:00

more animals

NaNoWriMo

2008-10-08T18:06:00.000-05:00

So, as you may already know, I'll be participating in NaNoWriMo again this year. For those that don't know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. You should check out the above website. The goal is to write 50000 words during the month of November, without any written preperation.

2006 was my first year, and my only successful year. I wrote 51,137 or so words in those 30 days.
2007, last year, I tried again and only managed just over 10000. I claim extenuating circumstances though. Mid-November was the beginning of the crappiest year EVER, and I hope that it'll all be over soon (more on that later).
2008 I shall triumph again!

Only what should I write about?

...I spent about an hour or so looking at the Dare Thread. Some of the dares are hilarious! I might have to use a few. Oh, for the layman, the Dare Thread is used to pad your wordcount if you are stuck.

I have a few ideas, each more ludicrous than the last.
1. Horribly tacky romance novel with elves, and gangsters. Don't ask. This one sounds really lame. I mean, the heroine's name is Pineapple.
2. A ~~description~~narrative of the crappiest year EVER, as told by the main character, me! I don't know if I really want to live through it again though. Ugh.
And my latest, thought of in traffic today:
3. It doesn't really have a premise yet, but the MC (main character) is slightly crazy. Like, talking to self, has names for the voices, crazy. It sounds more fun, and the dares would definitely work in this one. Well, and the first idea.

So, that's it for now!
A!

Hey guys!

2008-10-08T18:02:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd get on here so I can follow my friends more easily.

You can also find me here. That's a ranting journal more than anything. I like to complain... A lot.