Date:	2009-11-12 13:25
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	crushed

urghff....

I'm getting older.

Tomorrow I hit 32.

I need some cheering up.

I wish my hubby wasn't working that day.

Date:	2009-05-07 12:44
Subject:	Eh update, I guess
Security:	Public
Mood:	calm

So, right now my life is alright... for the most part.

Work has become a point of high stress for me. I work in an industry that has not be heavily affected by the economy, yet my company insists on cutting back hours to the point where we don't even seem to have any.... and they EXPECT us to be able to pull miracles out of our asses and keep the store perfect, the animals perfect and have perfect customer service. EARTH TO CORPORATE..... YOU CAN NOT BUILD THE FUCKING CHRYSTLER BUILDING WITH LINCOLN LOGS!!!

The other frustrating highlight of the past few months....

Du-Par's restraunt.

Firstly, it took over Baker's Square. I LOVED Baker's pies.

Secondly, the first time we tried the place out, it took fucking 30 minutes to get our order placed. We sat nearly 15 minutes before we were served a drink. AND THE PLACE WAS FUCKING EMPTY! That same night, I saw they served Monte Cristos. My darling hubby Jim has never had one of these super indulgent sandwhiches, so I suggested it to him.

He spent the night and next morning puking.

We swore we'd never go back.

We should have kept that oath!

The other night, we thought, well... it's got an A grade now.... and it's been open a little while ... and mayyyyybe the staff is better.  The staffing was a little better. We got our food a lot more quickly. Things seemed to be going well. I ordered a BLT. I was happy with the side salad. I started in on my BLT.

FUCKING GLASS IN MY BLT!!!

What the FUCK!!!??

The waitress was very appologetic, the manager was very appologetic.... but something she said realy irked me. "We don't use glass in our kitchens" she says.

And all I could do was look at my -GLASS- of water. No glass, huh? 

Du-Pars....


FEH!

More like Sub-Pars!


I really should have called a health inspector about that.... but I can't be bothered. I haven't dropped dead or bled from my backside from this.... yet... so... meh.

Oh, and today I made the appointment to get my cat spayed. Jim's not gonna be happy, but it's gotta happen. I'm fed up with her treating me like 'the other woman' every time she goes on heat.

If you're reading this and you need to have your cat/dog spayed/neutered and you live in CA, head over to SpayCalifornia.org for their low cost referal service. All you have to do is imput your information and they'll give you a list of vets who are associated with them with the quote price for proceedure. Then you call them up, tell them you were refered by SpayCalifornia & make your appointment. It's a great way for pet parents with stressed rescources like me to get their animals sterilized =)

Date:	2008-10-23 08:14
Subject:	... slipping
Security:	Public
Mood:	drained

Well, it seems my art high is slowly vanishing. 
I'm feeling a little walled in by my own drive to create more.
I'm dreading the holiday season in a retail store.
The next election in this country is going to suck.

I feel disappointed that my 31st is rushing towards me
     ... and it's hardly been given notice.
My mother might call. A day late. Maybe.
My uncle has already said he's got a tradition of
    ... going to see the new James Bond flick
          ....with his friend.
This might well be the last birthday I have
    ... on this side of the ocean.
So thank you everyone who bothers to celebrate it
    ... one last time on this side of the Pacific.

I need more time with my better half.
I need more time to just be myself.
Today I feel like I've accomplished nothing
   ... and I haven't even dragged myself to work yet.
>.< Fuck!

I need to fix this. I need to eat better food and take a little more me time. I need to stop setting myself up to fail my targets, but keep pushing myself to do better and better at the same time. I need to focus more on the positives and keep my brain from spilling off into numbness. I think it's time for me to have another look at my surroundings and give myself more blank canvas.

meh.
I'm gonna go hunt down something to eat.

Date:	2008-07-19 22:41
Subject:	DUMBASS OF THE YEAR SO FAR AWARD!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	irritated

I've had some stupid customers, and I've had some pushy customers and I've seen the combination of them together, but not to the extent of the brick wall that was in my store today.

According to him, he purchased a 50$ gift card at my store and wanted to return it. 

Well, first thing's first. We don't refund gift cards. CA law requires us to cash out gift cards under 10$ at the customer's request, and that's fine and dandy for me, wouldn't have been a problem had the card had a spare balance on it.

The problem comes when this customers firstly, doesn't have his receipt. Secondly, his store discount card didn't appear in the last 60 days' worth of receipts. Thirdly, each time he tells me about his transaction, his method of payment changes from cash to credit to his debit card. Finally, he keeps going on and on about how in California, it's the law to refund any purchase made in 30 days. Oh, and near the end of his stay in my store, he makes it a point to tell me that his daughter (whom he'd purchased this card for) no longer wants pets and hates animals.

I offered to take his information and forward it to my DM to see if anything can be done to accommodate him via corporate check and explain that, without the original receipt anyways, any merchandise returned to the store would be credited on a ....

DUN
DUN
DUUUUUUNNNNNNNN........

GIFT CARD!!!


So that's all I could , in theory, give him.... a gift card for his gift card.

And so, I get some lovely parting words of the four letter variety.

And you know what.... I have to say, F*** YOU TOO BUDDY! Take your gift card and sit on it! How dare you come into my store and try to bully me into doing something I cannot and DO NOT need to do! Jackass!

Date:	2008-07-14 12:29
Subject:	I've been tagged!!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	relaxed

I've been tagged by  beckychan !!

♥ People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

♥ Tag 8 people to do this quiz & those who are tagged cannot(should not? XD) refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by & cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by. Continue this game by sending it to other people.

I tag:
noo_da_puppi dtyvk nepryne hydra_666 saft luinfirithien adamsager22 saft


... not that any of you have to do it. And if you didn't make this list and want to do this anyways, feel free =)

o1◢ How has LJ changed your life?
-- Live journal hasn't really done much for me. It's been a nice place to talk about my life, but it's no different than using a chat engine or a web site to display my thoughts and share my good and bad times. On the rare occasion, I've met a new friend =)

o2◢ What do you do before bedtime?
-- I'll usually spend time with my husband and watch a movie or draw.

o3◢ What are you going to have for dinner tonight?
-- leftovers, most likely.

o4◢ What is the ONE place you want to go before you die if you had the money and the time? And let's keep it to somewhere on the Earth for now, shall we?
-- I can't name one place in specific. There are so many places I'd like to see, and so many things I'd want to do before the end of this lifetime. Museums, biological preserves, art galleries... the list is endless ^^;

o5◢ Are you an introvert or extrovert?
-- Honestly, I think I'm still a bit of an introvert.

o6◢ What do you do in your free time?
-- Draw, take long walks, read.

o7◢ Do you trust easily?
-- Kind of. I've had a long history of being burned by people I trusted, so I don't give as easily as I used to. I'd like to be more trusting, but... meh.

o8◢ What personal belonging do you have with you everywhere you go?
-- My wallet, my cellphone & a multi tool. Never know when I'm gonna need any of those things, so best to have 'em.

o9◢ Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
-- Our economy and politics just slipping further into the gutters. It's just... crappy.

1o◢ What is your best quality?
-- I'm straightforward. I don't like BS and I'm not one to deal it out to others. On the down side, that quality makes me seem a bit domineering and immovable in my opinions =P After that, my dry sense of humor.

11◢ Is being tagged fun?
-- No. Spray paint and markers are a bitch to remove from skin and clothing.

12◢ How do you see yourself?
-- I'm happy. I feel settled and in a place in life where things can really only go up. I have a lot to look forward to and a lot of good memories to cushion the bad.

13◢ If you could be anyone for one day, who would you be?
-- I'd like to be my husband. I think spending a day in his shoes would help me to better understand and appreciate what we have together and see the things that I do that might trouble/bother him. I'd also have a more intimate feel for how he sees the world.

14◢ What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
-- Becky has been a good friend for many years. We're not close as we could be, but I feel secure that we'll at least, be able to write each other and have a conversation.

15◢ Would you rather be single & rich or married but poor?
-- I'd rather be married but poor. Material wealth is nothing compared to emotional wealth. Married and rich would be choice too... LOL

16◢ How many children do you want to have, if any?
-- Two or three. Most likely two. I'd be happy to get on to the first one =)

17◢ Are you someplace that you never thought you'd be at this point in your life?
-- Yes. When I was a kid, I thought I'd have a place of my own by now and a job that was super satisfying. I've got the second, but kids don't think about the economy... hense my lack of the second.

18◢ If you fell in love with two people simultaneously, what would you do?
-- I'd know I wasn't really in love. I'd continue on as a friend and leave things like that.

19◢ Would you have 100% safe sex with a stranger for $10,000,000?
-- No. I don't enjoy sex without emotional attachment. My body is not for sale.

2o◢ What were your parents going to name you if you'd been born the opposite gender?
-- I haven't a clue. My parents weren't even sure if they were going to raise me. (and in truth, they didn't do a damn thing to raise me. What involvement they did had only served to screw me up as a kid =P)

Date:	2008-06-22 22:33
Subject:	FUCK!
Security:	Public
Mood:	sad

And I mean it, FUCK!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080623/us_nm/carlin_dc

Well, geeze, it's been a good long time since my last post.

I've had Jim with me here in the states for nearly 6 months now, and it's been a wonderful thing. We've done a lot of growing together in ways we've not had a chance to by living apart. n___n it makes me happy to have him at my side every day =)

Work has been up and down. I've got my first set of dog training class coming up next Saturday. I'm a little nervous, but I'm ready to work with people to teach them how to work with their newest member of their family.

I've gotten out to see a few of this summer's films and I'm happy to say that over all, I'm not disappointed. Caspian was definitely a darker turn compared to the fluffy CG'ed movie preceding it. Kung Fu Panda did exactly what was expected of it, lots of action, lots of laughs. Iron Man was a refreshing turn from poorly done comic book adaptations.

Last night it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of WTF was that??!

No seriously. This movie had all the fun of the previous films in the series, and all the cheesy corn gags. There's just a single element in the movie that just sits weirdly with me. It wasn't bad, it was more like just... off. At the end, I just had a good laugh and wondered why in the world the writers went with the ending the movie had. Surely... honestly, they could have done better.

Art wise, I'm still sluggish. I've been having a bit of fun with a little project with Jim, but I sort of feel like I'm just waiting for a huge burst to hit me and drive me to new art. =) Should be fun when it happens.

In my pet world, things have been great. The kitten Jim hand fed has become a rather large creature. My geckos have been breeding, but have not succeeded in viable eggs, nor have my firebelly toads bred this summer. My bearded dragon is fat as anything and loving the summer heat. The ferrets are doing great. They've had a couple of play dates with the kitty and enjoy the exercise.

well, I've got to run n' get ready for work. Might make a better update later.

I just checked in on my little country at Nation States. The description just makes me giggle ^_^

"The government helps teach children how to kill a man from six paces, Byobparti is notorious for its citizens' infidelity, the controversial show 'Who Wants to be an Immigrant?' has become wildly popular, and the nation has an international reputation for compassion. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Byobparti's national animal is the thing with huge teeth, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the glowstick."

I'm off to bed now....or possibly off to play Wii.... which ever one makes me more relaxed =)

Date:	2008-03-25 09:36
Subject:	Life is feeling good today =)
Security:	Public
Mood:	cheerful
Music:	birds chirping

I woke up this morning a little too cold and had to shim under the covers and find my way back to sleep.

When I woke up for good, I felt really good, but slightly weirded out by my dreams. I had this trippy weird dream that Jim and I had moved into a new house and I was left to tell off the entity of some young lady to leave the house and quit messing around with our stuff. It was always harmless objects, but it was just obnoxious and annoying our guests XD

Work has been up and down feeling for me. More down than up some days. I love having a point of communications with other pet owners, but I hate what's happening to the company as part of thier new directives to make more money. Everyone wants to make more money, sure, but you don't do it by raising prices, cutting staff hours and pushing everyone to magicaly deliver better customer service to every customer who walks in. I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work. It is mathmaticly and physicaly impossible to have a personal shopping experience for 20+ customers in the store first thing in the morning if there are only 3 staffmembers in the store.... one stuck on register. *EXPLITIVES!*

Homelife is much much better n.n

I get to spend my off work hours with my hunny playing Wii or walking down to the local video store or just hanging out. The kitten we've been bottle feeding has grown and flourished under our care. She's still not too into solid foods and she's not very impressed with water either. Hopefully she'll be more into these things in the next couple of weeks.

My other pets are doing just fine. The bearded is taking in more veggies and getting lots of fresh finch eggs from my grandmother's little flock. My leopard geckos are breeding, my firebellys are making all the breeding noises with the male hounding the female closely (so more tadpoles for me, yays!). My fish are healthy, active and brightly colored. Jim's fish tanks are infested with fry.... seriously, there's about 100 or so of the little buggers in three batch ages x.x

In other major bits of life, I've gotten my first tax refund back and waiting on my state return. Family members who are still owing are begining to make good on returning the loans. Hmmmm.... I still need to work in some time driving sometime before my permit expires on me. Uhhhh... other than that, I think I'm done with this little update thingy and I'm gonna head off to eat and have a walk. =)

PS. Jim says hello to my friend's page viewers ^_^

Date:	2008-02-24 11:36
Subject:	Wii!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	irritated
Music:	Sonic-y music

oh yes! yet another thing to keep me from the web =) Thanks to a buddy of mine from work, I was able to get a tip off that they were in stock near my work =)
About $300+ later, I have a shiny new toy to play away the rainy days.

Jim's playing a new Sonic game at the moment. It's fun to watch and fun to watch him playing with a whole new type of controller system. All those bad habits you triain yourself out of as a kid are now the very essense of game play XD

Last night, we made Miis and had a laugh. Jim's Mii is a Jackson parody he named Shammown. I just did a normal looking one of myself... but I might do others later for laughs.

Well, I've got another day of work ahead of me. I've been looking less and less forward to it over the last couple of weeks. There have been some major changes in the way things have been running and of course when there are changes, there is the huge trickle down effect of shit tumbling down. It's stupid and I don't see why I should have to put up with it... but, I just hold my nose and take some comfort in knowing that things wouldn't be this bad if people weren't fighting for thier jobs. I want nothing of it. I just want to go to work, do -my- job and have that recognised as the good thing that it is.
Who knows. Maybe it's time I switched to another line of work

In other news, Jim's still getting over this flu thing. I think he's over the worst of it. Just need to get him eating more and such.

I'm off now. It's Sunday and I'm not that intrested in the mayhem that will be greeting me, but it's too late to call in sick. =P

Date:	2007-12-18 09:34
Subject:	SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAAAYY!!!!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	bouncy
Music:	Adam Ant

Plane Ticket -$1523
Visa - about $700 in fees, forms and photo copies + all the waiting x.x
Nights where I broke down in tears - too many
Knowing that after Sunday, I will never have to miss my husband again - Priceless!

Now it's just a matter of counting down the days until Jim's here and here for good =) This is going to be the most awesome Christmas ever... and the most awesome new year.... and in Feb, it'll be the most awesome Valentines day.... our very first one together physically =D

I'm so excited!

No more tethers to the internet! I can take those long walks in the sunshine I've been wanting to take with Jim at my side =) (well, when there's a little more sun out there XD)

In other news, my brain feels weird after the dream I had last night. I was travelling with some family (Jim, my grams & granmps and someone else but I'm not sure who) and after some rather frighteningly super narrow roads, we stop at some sort of mall. I have to use the toilet, so while everyone else went to check out the food court, I entered the bathroom...

which was unisex...

So I'm thinking... ooooh---kaayyy... no biggie, everyone else isn't feeling weird about this. And I go to find a stall. It's crowded, and I have to wait and wait and wait, then one finally opens. I walk over to take it and this other girl grabs the door as I'm closing it shut. I'm telling her off and telling her she's gonna have to wait. She's telling me off in return because I'm being stupid, there are several toilets to the booth.... and I turn around... and there are three.

So now I feel a little silly... and stupid.... and increasingly uncomfortable. Trying not to think about it, I head over to use the nearest toilet... and I just can't. I'm sitting, staring down at my shoes and feeling terribly exposed. Then I look up and I see the walls of the stalls are no longer solid, they've gone semi-see thru. O.O

And I'm still trying to go, but I just can't. The waiting people get cranky and I start to hear snarky remarks about the time I've been sitting there. Eventually, the crowd simmers down to a few people and Jim enters the bathroom to find out what's up. I tell him what's up and he's very understanding and does his best to keep others from me. My dream self is just about in tears of frustration because as much as it felt like I had to go, I just couldn't. 9.6

I woke up. Nup, didn't have to go. Felt just a little odd about the dream as I thought about it. I have nothing against Unisex bathrooms.... but I guess I was a little weirded out by having to share things a little too closely... I dunno o.o

Hmm, I'm getting a bit hungry.
So, now that I've checked for messages n' what not around the net and made this journal entry, I'm off to have some eggs n' toast =9

Visit my country ^_^
http://www.nationstates.net/byobparti

Oh Robot Chicken.... how you make the 5 year old in me laught XD

Date:	2007-12-11 19:49
Subject:	Conclusion to my journey =)
Security:	Public
Mood:	The cake is delicious
Music:	Still Alive - Portal

Right, so I left you all at the Newman/Blackler Christmas.

As I mentioned before, it was a lovely evening n.n

The next few days, Jim and I spent in complete relaxation. We had planned to go eeling, but we sort of overstayed the mornings in bed and enjoyed the luxury of breakfasts and cups of tea and coffee together. I miss this very much and look forward to the simple routine of cooking breakfast and drinking hot drinks again.

I spent alot of time taking photos of everything, enough to drive Jim a little nutty I think ^^; What can I say, I miss not being 'home' and I want to have as much 'home' around to look at as possible. We spent time up town, stopping in to say hello to Mum at the shop each day and giving the cafes a little buisness =) Unfortunately, the cafe where we'd gone in the past to get lamb shanks was closed, and the take aways spot we get chips at changed the type of oil they use to cook... and the Waihi museum was also closed x.x *whines*

We did get to have a good look at the pumphouse and the giant minepit. That was fun!!

Our afternoons were spent with Luc playing video games and having a good time. Our evenings spent in cuddles watching Bro Town episodes on my DS until we fell asleep ^_^

On Friday morning, it was time for us to leave. It was hard for me to go. It ment I had very little time left with my husband and that I'll not be seeing mum or Luc for at least another year and a half. I cried that morning, but Jim helped me gather up my courage and face what was going to come whether I wanted it or not.

We walked up to the bus stop with lighter luggage than we'd arrived with (thank goodness!) We were there a good 20 minutes before the bus was due. And we waited... and waited... and waited... for nearly an hour. Jamie finaly decided it might be a good idea to ask at the information office what the hell was up with the bus. Turns out there was a flat tire and the bus was expected in another half hour. Thinking we had long enough, Jim took off to use the public toilets and pick up something for us to eat. Not five minutes after he left, the bus pulls up. I told the driver that my husband had just gone off to the toilets a moment ago because we'd been waiting for ages and were told not to expect the bus for another half an hour. The driver seemed okay with this at first, but then gets all pissy when five minutes had passed and Jim wasn't there. I get off the bus to find Jim, take about ten steps and spot him tearing up the street fast as he can run. The driver continues his pissy attitude towards Jim and I over having to wait 5 more minutes.... like it's totaly fair we had to stand around over an hour waiting for -HIM- !!

I slept most of the ride up to Aukland. We stopped for lunch at the mall, then grabbed a cab to our hotel. That night, Jim and I went to this wonderful little greek restraunt and thought about our plans for the next day. We decided on the zoo, since we had sort of wanted to go to the one in Hamilton for memory's sake and didn't end up going. We arranged to use the shuttle to the airport drop off point the next day (which, it turns out, we shouldn't have done x.x We could have saved alot of money if we'd known a little bit more about the public transportation there). The sky was nice and overcast in the morning and there weren't too many children running amuk.

Jim and I were able to view the Kiwi in the nocturnal house. There was supposedly a moorpork in there too, but I didn't spot it. The tuatara was mostly hiding the first time we went by its habitat, but we got a good view of them when we passed by at the end of our visit. Jamie was enchanted by the monkeys and I enjoyed the birds. We both ooohed at the tigers and cheetahs and discussed the aquatic and reptile life in the 'aquarium' building. The bearded dragon they had there had a deformity on its upper lip, either from shedding or poor nutrition. There was a beautiful glass snake ( a species of legless lizard) that I was discussing with Jim, pointing out the markers of what makes it identifiable as a lizard and not a snake. A woman overhearing me asked me to repeat myself n' Jim proudly proclaimed that I am a reptile specialist back in the states. (I am, but still, I blushed modestly) The woman was interested in what I had to say about the glass snake, even though I had limited knowledge on its exact species. Jim poked fun by adding a 'fun fact' that in thier native lands, the legs were considered a delicacy and that was why they'd evolved the way they did. She laughed and I sort of 'oi veyed'.

Another animal Jim and I spent time watching was the koi fish. Koi are a pest species in New Zealand, so it's ilegal to keep them. The ones in the zoo were fairly large and had a very diffrent over all body shape to the ornamental pond fish I'm used to seeing. Thier coloration is more mottled all over too. One of them was pure white, but had obvious signs of bacterial infection =/ I hope it pulled through.

For lunch, Jim and I ate at the Lion's Larder... a cafe in the zoo. The hotdogs were good, but thier chips were absolute -SHIT-. Jim was torn between wasting food/money and not being able to stomach the worlds most vile chips. He did finally give up on them. We will never eat there again! XD

After the zoo, we went into the main center of Auckland and stopped at the transport center to figure out how we were going to get home. I picked up about a dozen maps and tried to make sense of them. We ended up heading back the way we came and caught the shuttle for the Hotel Grand Chancellor (a hotel near ours) for the last leg of the journey. After looking through the maps a bit more, however, it seemed we could have just used public transportation to get back... but we weren't to know, and better safe than stuck in Auckland after dark X.x

The last day we spent exploring Auckland at leisure. We rode the bus in to the city center (the bus stop was literaly across the way from our hotel XD) and started up the main street. Turns out we were there on a day there was to be the big Christmas Parade. It was also domestic violence awareness day or something of that sort. We wore the white ribbon being passed around and tried not to get too caught up in the crowds. I picked up some souveniers at a couple of the shops and we were given samples from various vendors along the parade route. The veggie puff things were rather gross =P

We wove in and out of shops and stopped in the casino. Jim had never been gambling and I felt like trying my luck for fun. Jim's definately not cut out for slot machines and seemed overly stressed about the money I was playing.... until I won 500+ on the machine I was playing on. I pulled out with those winnings, and I think I made the older lady sitting next to us jealous ^^ I thought it was alot of fun.

After the casino, we went to the movies. There wasn't much to choose from that we wanted to see, but we decided on Heartbreak Kid. Eeesh!... Some of it was funny, but some of it was just... >.< but, for a laugh, it was alright. We went home that night in fairly good spirits.

Unfortunately, the next morning was to be our last together. As brave as I tried to be, I still had a bit of a cry. We caught the shuttle to the airport and milled around some, crying on and off, but not so badly as we had in the past. We kept reminding eachother that is was only for a few weeks this time. (and it is. As soon as we get our last bits of paperwork done, Jim should be getting his Visa to come to the states n.n) We passed some time playing pool in the arcade. Jim won more of the games than I did, but mostly because of mistakes I made with the 8 ball (D'oh!).

The time to part came up alot sooner than it felt like it should have been. Jim and I kissed one last time before he had to leave to catch his bus back to Hamilton. It was hard to watch him go and I felt very lonely. I walked the length of the airport and tried not to follow the urge to just follow after him, or head back to Waihi and pretend I didn't have to leave. I wasn't looking forward to a night without him, and I wasn't looking forward to the plane ride home.

The 12 hours I spent on the plane were the worst I'd ever flown. There was a crying child to the right, center and left of me... the one on the left puked all over the place. The woman next to me was a psycho vegan who did nothing but make little noises of distain while I tried to enjoy my meaty meals. She was also a very heavy sleeper who would not get up to let me use the toilet x.x Most annoying was her little reading light was left on... blinding me with its brightness... but she wasn't using it!! >.<

When I got back to the US, I was beat. I hardly got any sleep and my back was stiff. My grams picked me up from the van nuys shuttle place and I was in bed not too long after. I called work to get my schedual and looked forward to just going back to work to drum through the days apart from Jim as quickly as possible. That was the plan, however, after two days I became severely ill. At first I thought it was just a flu, but after three days of high fever, I decided it might be best if I went to a doctor. I was diagnosed with larengitis and bronchitis. >.< I had to take antibiotics, anti virals and some steroids, and I was to be off work for the next four days. And that pretty much brings me back to the day that I started typing about my trip.

I've gotten much better now. I still have a bit of cough, but I'm keeping warm and not over doing things. Jim and I are still waiting on a little more paperwork, which should arrive tomorrow and be sent out as soon as it arrives to complete his paperwork for the Visa... and hopefully, by the end of this week, we will have a Visa in hand and a plane ticket purchased and I will be bouncing in anticipation of living with my husband for good!!

So, that's this journal entry done and most of my trip talked about. Hopefully, I haven't bored the hell out of everyone XD

On a side note, I have become intrested in trying out Portal. I suppose I can credit this sudden intrest to VG Cats, but more so, the credit should go to You Tube, where I've found hillarious little gems like this:




GLaDOS is just one messed up bit of AI. The mocking and sarcasm is hillarious. XD

So.. I guess... if there was some kind of X-mas wish list thing for me, Portal would be one it.

Date:	2007-12-03 20:18
Subject:	More Post
Security:	Public
Mood:	nostalgic

Well, let's see.... Last I left off, it was Friday evening and I was home and enjoying the comforts and company of home =) I don't recall what was for tea that first night, but there was definately a nice big salad in among everything. I love mum's salads. Always lots of fresh herbs from the garden. Sleep that night was a bit odd for Jim and I. The bed we were in was kind of a bit small and far softer than I'd have liked. It would be fine for a single sleeper, but in the warm weather when you want to just stretch out a bit, well, this was just not working for us. I slept like a stone, but Jim didn't fair so well.

Saturday we looked after Luc while mum was up working at the shop. We tidied the house a little, then took Luc up to the street fair. I love walking down the wee main street. I love the smells of sausages and onions out on the BBQ and the site of crafts and wares out on display. I loved being around the little shops I missed seeing. We stopped in one of the local cafes to get some 'American' hot dogs and say hello to Jim's buddy Mark. We ate and enjoyed the company of Mark and his son. Jim did a couple of drawings for the young fellow and we were treated with some drawings in return. The young boy's got potential and it should be intresting to see what he'll be drawing in a couple more year's time. Luc did a great little impromptu Pikachu also. I just watched and smiled. After our lunch, we headed a little further up town and stopped at the video store. Jim and Luc rented Shadow the Hedgehog to further thier quest for the final ending. On the way back down the street, we stopped into the toy shop. Jim and Luc made thier way over to a talking book.

This talking book was a lovely little thing ment to help children learn vocabulary while reading. It had a stylus that when pressed over a word, the book would 'read' the word out loud. The books can be interchanged between stories as well and I think it might even be a grand little gift to help our little ones along in thier reading one day. However, in the hands of a 10 and 26 year old males, a story about Winnie the Pooh soon became peels of laughter from themselves and another family with young children. In the mean time, I was bright red on the far side of the store wondering how long before they might be kicked out and furthermore, if we ever wanted to raise little ones near there, whether they'd ever be allowed inside the town's toystore. I believe the store clerk had a word in Luc's ear about being banned from there which stopped it. I was absolutely scarletfaced and Jim felt I was being too uptight.

Truth be told, I thought it was hillarious, however, the responsible side of me would have prefered this not happen in such a small town where people have a memory for such behaviours. If we had been in a crowded mall someplace or in the states in a Wal-Mart or something, somewhere people just sigh and ignore or quietly snigger about things like this, I might have even gave it a poke. But, as it was, well, I can look back on it now and have a safe, comfortable laugh. My silly boys will never really grow up and I can look forward to this kind of thing when Jim and I turn out a son of our own =)

When we got home, we settled around the house. Actually, it was more along the lines of Jim and Luc hitting the PS2 with Shadow the Hedgehog and me settling in for a little pokemon on my DS. It was a great way for us to relax together. Inbetween his turns, Luc would check out the pokemon I have and ask a bazillion questions about it. I laughed and answered and told his about Jim's secret worm team. Jim jumped right in on that one and we had Luc going for days about specialy bred caterpie and weedles and such.

Sunday was a glorious, wonderful, beautiful day! The morning started off a little slow, but once it was moving things could not have been more perfect. The whole army of four loaded up in the car, raided the town bakery for filled rolls and breakfast, then drove out to the Karangahake Gorge for a nice long walk down the trails. The parking was a little tricky depending on where you were wanting to start off at. We ended up walking out a little ways to get to the end of a bridge that led us over the river and through a long tunnel. Walking through that tunnel was just awesome. It was dark with very dim light every few meters. It was cold. It took for ages to walk! It also echoed pretty nicely, so Jim and I had a howl at some spooky noises and I could not resist a couple quick quotes from the Pirates of the Carribean ride ^^; My eyes were not too keen on the strengthening sunlight at the end of the tunnel, but I was good to go in a couple of minutes. We crossed a couple of nice bridges with spectacular views (even though I'm terribly shy of heights, I can appreaciate the view) but soon had to stop for Luc. Seemed the all the plant sex going on was far too much for him to handle. His face was puffy and he was absolutely miserable. Mum offered to pick us up from the end of the trail and we gave over thier filled rolls and wished Luc better.

I honestly can't put enough words around how beautiful New Zealand is. There were so many things I wanted to just absorb into my being and memory and camera so I'd not forget the feel of the spongey forest floor, the smells of the trees or the sound of the birds and insects. Jim and I visited a beautiful little waterfall and had lunch beside it. We talked about going eeling later in the week and what we thought our little ones would make of taking hikes like this one summer in the future. We both hope our little ones don't inherit bad allergies from his side.

After enjoying the sun and the falls and a full belly, we got up and headed back towards the main trail.I took pictures of nearly every bit of whimsy and fantastic green I could snap off. Jim showed me edible plants and found a log that would have been ripe with huhu grubs. Sadly, we had no way of getting deep into it so my try of something realy diffrent and new will have to wait. We spotted some intresting fungi we missed on the way up the trail and a tree that was pouring this beautifully colored amber sap. We also raided some honeysuckle off the bushes and Jim showed me what wild Privet looked like. He wanted to show me the area he worked on the trail, but we were running low on time. We followed the trail along the river back to the meeting place. Can I just say again how stunningly majestic New Zealand is? I seriously could have easily stayed out on those trails all day!

When we met up with mum and Luc at the meeting spot, Luc was looking a whole lot better for having gotten out of the pollen infested air. We headed off to see one of the spots Jim had considered for our wedding. It was a nice little cafe with alot of little whimsical wares about that would have been a lovely setting. Jim and I were drawn to thier fish tanks. One had goldfish, the other had an eel. I felt rather bad for the eel. It looked very cramped. All four of us had a bottle of ginger beer and soaked in the surroundings and spoke a little about the happenings for the next day. We attempted to find this pottery shop mum wanted to see, but after three tries, we skipped it and went on to Paeroa. We met another of mum's friends and did a little walk about down the main street. We stopped in at a vidoe store and had a look at the cheap sale vids. Picked up a copy of 'The Wild' and 'Meet the Feebles'. We then headed homeward again, stopping one last time to raid the supermarket for tomorrow's feast!

Monday was Newman/Blackler Christmas Day! Mum broke out the holiday decorations and Luc was home sick from school. Jim finished up the triffle he was making for afters (banana & strawberry this time) and I set to work on making my glazes for the grilled skewers. I made a pineapple-terriyaki sauce from scratch, a appricot mustard sauce, a honey mustard and a merlot reduction. Jim made his coleslaw (which was colorful and delicious) and mum made her always fabulous tabouli. Luc hung out in the lounge and played his gameboy and squirmed the way all ten year olds do when they're hours away from opening presents. I cubed and marinated the meats and waited for the grill to be hot enough to cook on by tidying up the kitchen and hauling out the many gifts that filled the larger of two suit cases when I came over. Jim wrapped the gifts he had brought along and everything was just looking and feeling like a wonderful holiday. We donned santa hats and reigndeer antlers and Jim was given the sexy kitchen bitch apron to wear (rowr!)

Ange arrived and was mostly cheery. It was good to see her again and listen to her going on about her affairs (so long as she didn't bring up the whole Ian thing). There was a little bit of a muddle between her and mum and Luc, but it wasn't a huge thing and it didn't get turned into a huge thing, so it was soon enough forgotten and done with.

The skewers took about 30 minutes of time to cook, and I kept loosing bits of pineapple on the grill =P Otherwise, I'd say I was very happy with the way they turned out. There was plenty of food to go around and lots of good cheer and compliments paid to the chefs. I was happy my modest culinary skill is appreaciated and even happier that Jim's kitchen creativity went over even more beautifully! We will have to actually write these recipes down one day. The only drawback to dinner was the abscence of Nana. Jim and I had wanted a visit with her, but our timing was just off. She was in Waihi while we were in Hamilton and on the same day we were leaving to go to Waihi, she was coming in to Hamilton! Rotten luck! Still, the house was happy and full of holiday spirit.

After rounding off our bellies with servings of Jim's fantastic triffle (I think he will be the official triffle maker until we can pass it off on one of our young), we gathered in the lounge to exchange gifts! Needless to say, Luc got the lion's share of things as Jim and I made it a point to spoil him silly! Pokemon cards and toys and videos, digimon dawn ds game, the classic Zelda, Link to the Past to change up the pace of things for him, a yu gi oh soundtrack CD, the massive 4 generation Pokedex to help his training along and a book on drawing dragons and such (because I had heard earlier that year it was a growing intrest he had). He was in overdrive hyper! It was cute just watching him gush and squee over his pile of goodies!

Mum received a beautiful scarf and skirt from my grams, and a shared gift of a lovely calendar and post cards for her and Luc from my grams. Jim gave her a nice bath basket and I gave her a CD, a witty little bumper sticker, a fiber optic centerpiece and soaps. Ange, Luc and Mum also got new 10$ bills from my grams. Ange was also given a nice calendar from my gram's Hawaiian island tour.

Jim and I received a rather nice little pile of gifts. White chocolate buttons from Luc to Jim. A little alligator 'egg' that expands and 'hatches' in water from Luc to me. (I have just the jar I want to do this in too) I got a pair of crocodile kitchen gloves from mum's excursion to Austrailia, a beautiful mosaic gecko wall hanging, a stunning little wallet from Ange to me. Jim got a gift certificate for the local chemist from Ange. Then there was a simply elegant pair of wine glasses given to the both of us with a bottle of wine to go with! All in all a wonderful Christmas.

Ahhh! The comfort of home and Christmas =)

I'm going give this journal a bit of rest and go post some pictures in DA for you all to enjoy =)

Date:	2007-12-03 01:03
Subject:	A post!
Security:	Public
Mood:	nostalgic
Music:	no music, just watching the Billy T James =)

Gosh, it feels realy weird sitting here and typing.

I've just gotten back from a wonderful two weeks of vacation time with my husband and his side of the family about a week ago now. I haven't yet unpacked my bags or done any sorting of that sort. I went into work ready to go, gung ho for the passing of the next few weeks.... and contracted both Bronchitis and Larengitis my second day back (FARK!) So instead of working my way through the week, I've been in a state of dizziness or flat out sleeping. I tried to get an appointment with my regular doctor, but as he was unavailable, I had to make due with the horrors of an urgent care facility. The docs were very nice, just horribly ineffecient in the manner in which they handle paperwork and what not. But that's not what I want to write this journal about.

This entry will focus on the my most recent trip home to spend time with my husband and our family.

To start, by November 10th, I was well packed and ready to go at least a week in advance if not more. One suit case was full of nothing but gifts, the other was packed with clothing and other articles I might need while I was out there. Having taken this trip twice before in full, I wisely changed into my PJs before boarding the plane. I have to wonder though, why I bring my gameboy and MP3 player along, or stuff to draw or write with. I've yet to really enjoy them on the plane, though they are useful in the down time waiting for shuttles/buses etc. The plane was booked solid, but the ride wasn't so bad as it could have been. It was just a bit tricky getting up to go toilette when the fellow blocking my way was a heavy sleeper. I tried to get as much sleep as possible, but also took in some movies since they were there. I went for Transformers because I hadn't seen it before.... and I'll very likely not want to see it again. Such a rubbish movie. I re-watched Harry Potter 5 (and fell asleep in the middle), then Shrek 3 (and fall asleep in the middle) and rounded that off with Surf's Up (and fell asleep in the middle) and I think there was a viewing of Pirates 3 in there too, but I slept through most of it and only woke up in time to watch the silly final scene with that english general fellow walking through his ship while it's litterally breaking all to pieces around him. I laughed out loud in the theatres at that part and I giggled quietly in my seat again. The positive thing about waking up at that point was I didn't have to watch the film all over again to see the 'ten year later' ending I missed in the theatre. >.> Eh,, I could have waited another ten years for that'n LOL

So I arrive safe n' sound at Auckland International. I love arriving in New Zealand and one of the things I love so much about it is the restrooms. When you land in LAX you have to wait until after you've collected your luggage before you can even set foot near a toilet. When you get off the plane in New Zealand, there are about three chances to use a restroom before you clear the customs counters. This is great! Another thing I love about AKL is the shorter distance between where you leave the plane and where you pick up your things. LAX has this horrible cold cattle run of cement tunnels they make ya pace through. It's very unwelcoming!

Soooo anyways, I arrive and I gather my bags and make my way around somewhat familliar territory. I needed to find a currency exchange counter, but this has been moved from the booth on the wall where I remembered it to a neat new kiosk in the center of the arrivals area. It was sort of cool to note that there were things being updated. I changed over my american money into colorful New Zealand notes and coins and trotted on down towards the shuttle pick up to take me to the Sky City station where I was to catch a bus in to Hamilton. I paid for my ticket at the machine and helped a first timer use it as well. She was a nice older lady come from the norther part of my state to see her relative who'd reached her 90's and was not expected to see too many more birthdays. We rode the bus together and did the customary idle chit chat of where you from and why're here and what not. She got off at the number 6 stop and I had the number 8 stop to wait for, so I wished her a good trip and many strong years to her elderly relative. I spent the rest of my trip staring out the window and looking at the city.

At my stop, I gathered my things and sat down to wait. Out of curiosity, I turned my cell phone on and found it soon buzzing with incoming text messeges. NEAT! I thought to myself and began to communicate back, not even sure if they'd go through. Huzzah! They did go through and I was able to text to my husband while waiting for my bus. I had about 2 hours layover, so I made it a point to get in another toilet break and have a drink. Ahhhh L&P how I missed ya! I played some pokemon Diamond to wittle away more time, but found myself starting to nod off a bit. I watched a fellow try to jam as much stuff into a locker as possible, remove it all and try a diffrent one, remove it all and try a smaller one. It was amusing. If he'd have broken down his gear a bit more, I think he could have managed his space better. I checked the time, got up, stretched and headed out to meet my bus. Once on board I gave Jim a text to let him know I was shutting off my phone to save the batteries n' that I'd be along in a couple of hours. I got a nice comfy seat near the back and dozed happily for the next couple of hours until an announcement over the PA woke me as the driver announced that they had to turn the bus around. Appearently, this fellow was scheduled to get off at a stop we'd passed some 30 minutes ago and missed it >.<

I sighed and just hoped that Jim wouldn't be too worried about my being late! If I had known then that he was going to attempt to text me to find out why I was late, I'd have turned my phone back on, but that's one of those hindsight things. I arrive at the bus terminal in Hamilton expecting a rather worried husband pacing the walkway and flying to greet me and deftly take my baggage from me, but was met with an odd no show. I checked the entire station. Jim wasn't there. I was baffled, and I had to wee again. I ducked into the ladies as quickly as I could and had another look around just in case Jim might have been in the mens when I first arrived. Nope. I was stumped. Where the heck was he? I gathered my bags and sat and waited. And waited. And then I spot him approaching and I smile and wave him down. He dashes into the terminal, suitcase in tow, and there is much hugging and rejoicing and exchanging of what happened to eachother. He had gone to the nearest internet cafe in hopes of reaching me and I had, as mentioned before, not had my phone on since I thought he'd not get my messages.

But all was well now. We caught the bus that was heading out towards our hotel and checked ourselves in.

And there was much rejoicing.

And we relaxed for a bit and took stock of the room's amenities. We needed a hot plate and some other things, but that was quickly arranged. We needed to get a bowl big enough for the triffle Jim wanted to make for my birthday, so we headed out in the late afternoon. I originaly wanted to get butter chicken at the mall, but we were too late for that. We instead walked up and down the restraunts that were open for dinner and tried to choose one. This proved to be harder than it looked. Neither of us were hungry for anything in 'particular' but both of us were hungry. We did eventually settle on a restraunt that turned out to be absolutely lovely. He had the steak, I got the pork chops and he imeadiately wanted to trade after a try of mine LOL I do so enjoy feeding my love little tid bits off my plate =) We were truly stuffed to the gills by the time we got through the main dish. It was too late to go to the Warehouse to grab that bowl we had originaly set out to get, so we went back to the hotel to sleep.

The next day was my birthday. Holy Crap I reached 30! O.O

Well, my darling showered me with gifts! I got art books galore! I love how Jim has archived our artwork to eachother through the years and sepparated them into books by year. I also got a copy of Black Sheep (which I am watching now between thoughts) a Yusagi Yojimbo comic, a beautiful little jewlery box with wonderful matching earrings and pendant, and this absolutely adorible singing frog plushy!! He's such a romanticle fellow n.n

After a HUGE breakfast of fresh fruit n' custard, we went out and walked around Hamilton because I wanted to. I think we had sushi that day out, then hit the flicks. We saw Resident Evil 3 .... which was just sort of weird. I guess I wasn't too into the first one, I hadn't seen the second one so I missed stuff that would have made this one make more sense... but not by much. Uhhh... I think we stopped at Jim's house that day to pick up a couple of things he left behind. It was either on my birthday or the day after. His roomate was stunned at my appearance at the door, though we were only there a couple of minutes to collect Jim's things and check email n' junk. We went back into town and got that whole big bowl thing sorted out for triffle. We settled on one from the 2$ shop. I can't recall what we did for tea.... no wait, I think we had McD's that night... ah yes, we -did- have it then, I recall the little kiwi pavlovas Jim got for afters n.n (I wish they served them here)

So, I guess we can get on to the next day. It was pretty much like the day before without the gift opening in the morning. Jim and I did some last minute shopping for him to his family. I got to see a rather nice little pet shop and checked out the prices on the fish tanks. We decided on a lovely little 22l set up for his brother but would pick it up the next day. We also checked to see that there were PS2s in stock at Cash Converters for Luc. We were supposed to meet up that night with Amy n' Alex for tea, but somehow the plans got a bit muddled and we missed out. We ordered pizza instead and enjoyed watching King Kong and The Ringer on Sky movies. Oh! before I forget, the triffle Jim made was fantastic! It was lemony goodness to the max!

The following day was our last full day to be had in Hamilton.We had cold Pizza and left over triffle for breakfast YUM! We zipped around town to purchase the last minute big things we were going to buy (the tank, the playstation) and the live animals (four white cloud minnows and some plants) then hurried these back to our hotel room and set the fish up in the now very emptied and cleaned out triffle bowl then set ourselves out again to enjoy the day. We did some last second pick up items at the 2$ shop for wrapping paper and tape. We had lunch outside under the shade of that giant tree outside the Hamilton library. He got sushi again and I got some butter chicken (yum of all yum!!) We had a pokemon battle which turned into a long Spore fest that knocked out my team rather quickly. To be fair, I don't have many level 100 pokemon and of those, none were EV trained, so I was SOL before the battle was started. It was kind of sucky to have to sit there and tap the buttons when my pokemon slept away thier lives x.x After lunch, we went n' saw Ratatouille. Jim liked it =3 We got to the hotel just in time for it to start pissing down heavily again! It was starting to feel like it was never going to stop raining on my visit!! Not that I don't like the rain. I love rainy weather very much! I just wanted to enjoy the sunny weather that was supposed to be happening!

Next morning saw us with one less fish than we were wanting to leave with =/ The lady at the shop had grabbed one of the fish I was hoping to avoid out of the tank. Some of the 'sunset' variety of the white clouds were larger and I had spotted a couple with gill deformities. I should have checked them out more closely. We finished rounding up our things and had to catch a taxi after check out. It was pouring down by the bucket load and this would have made catching the bus a bit too miserable in the rain.

We stopped at his place to get the lawn mown and thankfully the rain had let up enough to allow Jim to do that. I did some last minute emails to my grams and let her know I was fine and likely not to be in communications for the rest of my trip. She had some minor questions reguarding my animals and I think she got it sorted before I'd had the chance to email her back. She's a brave spirit to take on my zoo for me and I can't thank her enough! (well, truth be told, none of them were going to need real daily care aside from my deviant duo, but still, how many grandmothers volunteer to look after lizards and amphibians? The fish she could handle like a pro, I was sure) So, that done and a hot cup of tea later, Jim and I were off to the bus stop, catching it just in time to get in to town. We took the long way around and enjoyed what is likely to be our last little travel down that route for a very very long time. We had a little bite to eat before boarding the bus heading to Paeroa. I do so love pie n.n There's something just indulgent in meaty goodness wrapped up in pastry and oozing warm gravy =9

I passed the bus ride sleeping as much as I could. By the time we got to Paeroa, I was actually feeling a bit motion sick. I was glad for the little pause, but anxious to get on with the travel and make it to Waihi before it got too rainy looking. When we arrived at the Waihi station we were surprised and greeted by mum and Luc! It was all hugs and smiles and Luc pointing at the big box we had and asking after it with much anticipation. We told him it was a cat house LOL.

The first few hours home were all about just settling in and relaxing. It feels so great to be home and I hardly feel the time I had been away. We let Luc unwrap the 'cat house' and listen to his total spazzing out over a brand new fish tank! This was imeadiately followed by the opening and spazzing over the accessories for said tank and the whole family getting in on rinsing out and setting up the tank for the fish. It was great fun n.n

Hmmm... I think I'm going to stop now until tomorrow. I'm feeling a little bit fuzzy from my meds and it's about time I lay down to sleep. More tomorrow though! And pictures too! I shall be updating my DA account with a few pictures.

Date:	2007-11-09 23:56
Subject:	AFK - New Zealand =)
Security:	Public
Mood:	awake
Music:	>.> Tom's Diner.... kill me please!

In less than 24 hours, I'm going to be on a plane traveling the great expanse of the Pacific Ocean. In less than 36 hours, I will be reunited with my wonderful husband.

On November 13th.... I turn 30!

Holy Shit (9_9)!!!

And, this makes me laugh. Alot!

Date:	2007-11-04 20:35
Subject:	WOOOHOOO!!!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	silly
Music:	loud and obnoxious

I'm feeling in an 80's music mood =)





or rather, I'm feeling in the mood for 80's music vids!

In other news, I'm off to New Zealand this Saturday to spend my 30th with my wonderful husband and his family =) Sooooooooo can't wait!!! =)

This is just... sooo wrong!!! XD

You Tube'n can drum up some pretty intresting vids....

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CAUTION!!!
NOT FOR WEAK TUMMIES!!!

I warned you =)