Blogger Award

Well, what do you know, I got a blogger award! It's from the very funny, and very sweet "Juice".

I am in a GOOD mood today! Don't fall over. What is going on you say? Well, vacation may be back on! Sometimes complaining DOES work! I'm going to have a big garage sale and sell everything, so I have money for the vacation. Really, the only things I need to survive are: Crackberry, Laptop, Camera, and Ezmerelda (my vehicle). I love my SUV, make fun of me if you want, but its comfy and big, and has leather seats, a butt warmer and a sunroof. 'Nuff said. Anyway, I will put off wanting to die until the end of August.

Here is where I will (hopefully) be staying for free. It's a real hell hole. HA.

One Word MEME from BOA

Where is your cell phone? Bra
Where is your significant other? Unknown
Your hair? Up
Your mother? Skinny
Your father? Heaven
Your favorite thing? Crackberry
Your dream last night? Trouble
Your favorite drink? Mocha
Your dream/goal? Happiness
The room you're in? Cubical
Your hobby? Photography
Your fear? God
Where do you want to be in 5 years? Unknown
Where were you last night? Home
What you're not? Normal
Muffins? Sweater (What? You’ve never heard of sweater muffins? LOL.)
One of your Wishlist items? Vacation
Where you grew up? Redmond
Last thing you did? Internet
What are you wearing? Blue
Your TV? Overused
Your pets? Ornery
Your computer? Laptop
Your life? Rollercoaster
Your mood? Sad
Missing someone? Yes
Your car? Saturn
Something you're not wearing? Underwear
Favorite store? Amazon
Your summer? Disappointing
Like someone? Yes
Your favorite color? Purple
When is the last time you laughed? Tuesday
Last time you cried? Monday

I have some wisdom today.

#1 - Do not ever go the gym angry. Your body will HATE you the next day. I cannot move and it's giving me a headache. Ow.

#2 - If you have misplaced some items and want to find them, here's what you do. Get in your car and drive about 80 miles an hour, then for no reason at all, slam on your brakes. Everything you've lost will come rolling out from underneath the seats. I found my mascara, a book and my water bottle.

I had the day from hell yesterday and was in a REALLY bad mood. Those are really fun. I'm still not in a good way, but I read two nice blog entries today and I was inspired. I'm trying to just keep plugging away, even if there feels like no reason to. I don't know why everything has to be so hard. I feel like I'm being put to some kind of test or something. Really, that's what it feels like. That is the perfect way to describe it. I can't remember what movie it is, but I think it was Charlie Sheen (of all people) who was doing it, maybe Platoon? Anyway, the scene is where he is kneeling and leaning back with his legs underneath him and he has his arms stretched out back behind him with his head tilted toward the sky. He is wailing and screaming, the kind of wailing where the very depth of your soul is crying out. That's what I've been feeling like. The kind of angst where your whole body is reacting. Where you've just had about all you can take of everything. You know the saying that "God won't give you more than you can handle"? God must think I can handle a lot, let me tell you. But I do have a roof over my head, food to eat, a good job and my health (for now). So, I'm blessed more than some. It is easy to feel sorry for yourself, but really, what a waste of time.

Don't get too attached to your money.

Financial chaos is ensuing. The stock market is continuing to tank and so is the dollar. Mark my words. I have no money, so I'm not all in a tizzy over it, but the world is coming unglued everywhere. I'm not even going to bother to post articles. Just turn on the 'censored' news, it's even on there. War with Iran coming? Probably. I'm all positive and cheery today. Just an FYI.

Life is Wonderful?

Remember that wonderful, much needed 2-week vacation in the land of sun and fun I was looking forward to the first two weeks in August? The vacation I was hyped about because I haven't been out of the Seattle area since 2001? The one where I would get two weeks off in A ROW which is something I haven't done in 10 years? Yeah, it's not going to happen. I don't know why I'm surprised. I still have the time off, but there is no point in taking it, because it is all I've got, and I don't want to waste it sitting on my big fat ass doing nothing. I may take a week and clean my home office. Awesome.

That is all I'm going to say about it. Don't ask because I FEEL like driving off a motherfucking cliff right now. I do not care about my cussing. I just don't care. Yup. In a good mood.

Monday Blues

I'm even listening to the blues. Ever heard of Candy Dulfer? ("Lily was Here" is really good.) No one my age has. I'm sure all my friends will be making fun of my eclectic taste in music at any moment, but nevertheless that's what I'm listening to this morning. A little jazz and some blues. I listen to music that goes with my mood. It could be AC/DC, it could be Country, it could be Jazz, or it could be the Blues. Whatever I'm feeling, I like everything. I'm also listening to "When the Lights Go Out" by The Black Keys. It's sexy music to me. Go figure. When I put together my photography site, I think I will use the Black Keys song as the background music, most of my photography has a "dark" element to it, so it would fit.

Herb Garden Project

I got (a little bit) of lead out. I kicked myself in the butt and decided to beautify my herb garden. It needed A LOT of help. I have been neglecting it. I am by no means a gardener, AT ALL. In fact, I am quite the black thumb. However, God as my witness, I'm trying to get better. I do love to cook with fresh herbs, and I inherited my dad's herbs, so I want to preserve them. I completely replanted my bowl in the stand with cilantro and dill, and also replanted and resoiled some parsley and chives. I just cut back and pruned the rest. I even scrubbed all of the pots and cedar planters! I killed the little tree that I got when my dad died, but my mom gave me hers, and I have actually kept it alive! And it's GROWING! So anyway, it took me a few hours, and I destroyed my French manicure, but I got some great before and after shots. I'm proud of myself! I also took a picture of my new bamboo plant. Love it!

I've literally been in bed ALL day.

There is something wrong with me. Who does that? I got up to pee. Let the dogs out. But then I just go right back to bed. I just don't want to deal with anyone or anything. I'm not hungry. I still have a mess to clean up from Friday. Don't want to. Which isn't like me, I can't stand a mess. I'm forcing myself to get up right now. I'm forcing myself to blog. I had nightmares, so it wasn't restful sleep. I guess I should be thankful I got some sleep instead of the insomnia craziness. OK, that's all I've got in me.

It's going around.

I went and helped a friend today, and she is in bad shape like many of the rest of us. I just don't know what is happening, everywhere I turn, someone is going through hell. I got two more emails from friends in "dark places". I am feeling dark myself. I think I took too many anxiety pills yesterday. Someone could have blown up the house and I wouldn't have cared. Being numb is NOT good, though. However, sometimes feeling hopeless is just too much. I came home and collapsed, and I haven't even eaten. The friend I went and helped is feeling very overwhelmed, and I am feeling much the same way with all that is in front of me. The sad leading the sad is worse than the blind leading the blind. It is weird when you are in a funk, no matter how many people you have around you, you still feel alone. I know some of you guys out there are feeling that right now. Intense aloneness. I have no wisdom at the moment.

Sleeping Beauties. I'm so evil.

It's over, and I survived.

Except now I have 4 teenagers crashed out in my living room for the night.

They are watching my horror movies and eating my potato chips. It's kind of funny, you have to step over bodies no matter which way you go. (My house is a whopping 1100 square feet.) Here are a bunch of pics from the day. The dogs were more entertaining than the fireworks. You'll see why.

KABOOM.

My loving stepson just set off an M80 behind me without my knowledge. I almost dropped my Crackberry. NOT FUNNY.

Where's my Klonopin?

My Mother-In-Law brought the decorations and help set up my 4th of July party. My mom came up, and my stepson and his friends are coming later, along with my neighbor. I hope this goes well, I'm nervous.

Happy 4th of July!

I should be straightening up the house right now, but I'm not. Sometimes I don't understand myself. Jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a smile on my face? Sure! Wrestle a dangerous criminal to the ground and arrest him? Bring it! Stand outside jumping up and down with glee during an intense lightning and thunderstorm with metal all around me? Fun! Chase a dine-and-dasher out of a restaurant parking lot and tackle him in my apron? Awesome! Have family and some people I don't know well over for a BBQ on Independence Day? Take an extra anxiety pill and hide in my office blogging. I'm a whack job. Pure and simple. I make no sense. Death? No problem! Family and friends? HELP ME.

I'm sure you'll hear from me periodically throughout the day. I'll be the one in the corner taking pictures playing with her Crackberry. Social anxiety, yup. I do like blowing stuff up, though, and my neighborhood is always WWIII.

My New Crackberry

Yes, I call my Blackberry phone my "Crackberry" because the ADDICTION IS REAL.

Anyway, my boss told me to "get the hell out of here" at 1:30 today to start the holiday weekend early (he is so awesome), so I promptly left since all I was doing anyway was reading my Crackberry manual and doing setup. (I did SOME work, OK? Hardly anyone was there today.) I now am proficient! I went to get a pedicure and while she was making my feet prettier, I was checking email and surfing my favorite blogs, all the while sitting in a massage chair. It was 45 minutes of Heaven, people.

Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people now. The ones you get annoyed with because all they do is sit there completely entranced in their own private technological world, ignoring everyone around them. I'm sure I will get yelled at soon. I am here to say I UNDERSTAND now. Don't you judge me!

One more thing. I have to tell you about Dave the Verizon Wireless guy. Dave is the awesomest customer service representative that I've ever talked to. EVER. I know Dave now. He is a friend. Usually, I want to cancel service when I talk to customer service, but now that I know Dave is out there, I have hope again. First and foremost, he was cheerful and friendly and funny. THEN, even though I was not eligible for any kind of discount, he GAVE ME ONE ANYWAY because he said his best friend (who has brain cancer) lives about 1 mile from me, and Dave wants to take care of all residents of this town. (Dave is local to me, how often does THAT happen?) So, I made out like a bandit. All the while he was setting up my Crackberry order and answering each and every one of my gazillion questions, we chatted about our lives. We even both lost a parent this year and were talking about that! Dave sounded about 22, but he said he was a very immature 43-year-old. I can appreciate that, because as you are all aware, I act 12. After about an hour, Jim asked me who the hell I was talking to. I said, "Dave", and he said, "Who?", and I said, "Dave. The best Verizon Wireless guy on the planet!" Jim rolled his eyes. After I hung up, I cursed at myself because I forgot to give Dave my blog URL. Damnit! Jim said, "There is someone out there who doesn't go to your blog?" Smartass. I WISH there was only one!

Sorry it is not a good pic, but the phone screen has interference and won't cooperate with my camera. But THERE IT IS IN ALL IT'S GLORY.

Wild Stormy Night

The photo is an actual capture of lightning over the Seattle area not far from where I live. The weather has gone nuts. Completely insane. ALL NIGHT LONG, and still isn't finished this morning. You are probably sick of hearing about it, but seriously, this is the best storm I've ever seen. When I got home last night, the lightning was so intense, it was going off every 3 seconds (I counted) in these big, twisted masses of bolts. EVERYWHERE. There would be 4 or 5 bolts going every which way, lighting up the entire sky and blinding me. Being a crazy, fearless, weirdo, I stood outside for hours watching it. It ended up right over the top of us complete with cracking thunder, wind and heavy rain. The dogs were going apeshit. I seriously thought we were going to get a tornado or something, it was that intense. I've never seen lightning like that, and so often, for so long. Needless to say I was too excited to get much sleep, and I couldn't charge up my Crackberry because I didn't want to fry it. We actually lost power briefly.

I have a headache this morning, probably because of the barometric pressure changes, so I'm not happy about that, but it was worth it. I've got the whole night to myself tonight, so I'm thinking about pampering myself. Pedicure, manicure, nice dinner, and maybe a glass of wine while I get proficient at the Crackberry. I will probably be blogging a lot, because you know I have to practice posting with it. My life is not all that exciting, so you may get bored, but I'll try to be creative.

Hey Juice and Hole, I know our plans tonight tanked, but let me know if you have time for a pedicure or something. That could be social and fun. I know something came up for you guys, I'm just sayin' in case.

My heart is broken.

Two of my dear friends are in a bad way. Their last blog posts have me tearing up. I wear my heart on my sleeve and if someone I care about is upset, I don't know what to do. The last thing people want is someone patting them on the back saying it's going to be OK, because I know from experience you just want to punch people in the face. When you are feeling terrible, you are NOT OK and you don't feel like they will EVER be, and you just want to be left alone. I can barely get through each day myself. I know what it feels like to not care whether you live or die, and that life is pointless. Sometimes I don't think I will EVER be happy. EVER. I do understand, but I am still so very sad. Hey, you guys, and you know who you are, just know I'm thinking about you, OK? I'll leave you alone, but I'm here if you need me. For anything.

Crazy like the South

I have lived in the Pacific Northwest since I was about 6 years old, and the weather up here is so vastly different from what it used to be. Tonight, it was like living in the South. My mom and I went to dinner, and it was nice and sunny and bright, about 80 or so degrees. We went inside and as soon as we sat down, it got black and the thunder boomed and it started hailing, then flash flood raining. It was nuts. Then, as quickly as it started, it just stopped. When we left it was sunny and bright again, but I lost my breath when I stepped outside. The humidity was AWFUL. Steam was rising up everywhere and my car windows were all fogged up. We went over to do some shopping at Target (we're big spenders) and it did the same thing. It sounded like the roof was going to come off with how loud the thunder was. When we left the store, it was doing the flash flood raining again so we stood under the store front and waited. Sweat was POURING off of my head into my eyes and ears. So sexy. My hair also frizzed into oblivion, which made me really happy. Anyway, I know that is normal for many of you, but not for us. We don't know how to act. I love storms, so I was all excited. (Except for the humidity, you can have that shit.)

I just got home and my Crackberry came, so I have to go read the manual now and play with my new toy!

This was shared with me today.

Don't know why, but I wanted to post this. You may think it is stupid, but I like it.

The challenge of your life is before you. You have learned well from your failures and from some difficult circumstances. Now you will march forward with integrity of heart and steel for a backbone. Fear will no longer be an issue. Only set your eyes straight ahead without turning to the left or to the right. Gather up all of your courage and lock it into your mind like your crown jewel. A waterfall of boldness will flow over you and this waterfall will continue to flow as long as you keep your strong faith. I will mix with this a strong anointing of Godly wisdom so that you will not only know but you will also understand things as never before. Now, arise and shine.

Internet Apocalypse

Computer no working. Internet no working. CrazyDogMama no working.

Our server was down for the first two hours at work, and no one could do anything. Living in this technological world can sometimes be frightening. I'm so dependent on the internet for sanity. My "Crackberry" is supposed to be arriving today, so now I will REALLY have no life. But CrazyDogMama will have a new toy! As Skwigg calls it, "The Precious".