Friday, December 31

304. The End Of The World: The Prequel

Because I think we're reserving the end of the world hub bub for 2012, we're all running around like chickens with our heads cut off. Not that we haven't done a lot already, but my mom goes all out and it's really difficult for her to do so when she is working until 6pm today and then getting up tomorrow to work a full day. We're trying to do all we can to do it right and in advanced for her.

I know I should probably be doing something like talking about my resolutions or my top ten something or reviewing my favorite blogs for this year but I am in no state of mind to do so any time soon. ROFL. You're probably getting plenty of that kind of stuff from everywhere else on the internet anyway. I'm sure you'll be fine with me skipping out on that now. Maybe I'll do that when I hit my one year mark of blogging daily.

My brother and I have been left at home and we're trying to do what we can with no supervision- lemme tell you right now that it sucks because my folks can be perfectionists and that's perfectly understandable in a situation like this so we're going nuts trying to figure out what they meant from one minute phone calls. It was such a good  idea for me to grab some frozen mocha drink from Panera this morning. I am so wired it almost isn't funny. Almost. My hands are trembling as I type this right now. XD

But, I don't want my last post of this calender year to be completely boring. So I'm going to share some music mashup videos from YouTube. I haven't shared clips or music in a while! These are particularly fun, imho (in my honest opinion), because they are reviews of the Top 25 US Billboard Pop songs from the past couple of years by DJ Earworm. Yummy imagery, I know. :P

Let's go from 2007 - 2010 to build up some suspense even with the colors of the video frames. My personal favorite United State of Pop is from 2009. :D And I respectfully disagree with the colors. Especially from the past three years. To me, 2008 was totally about the coral pink, 2009 about the teal/ turquoise, 2010 about that dark plum-wine color, and I'm open to 2011 even though I think it's a little soon to do a pink hue again.

According to Pantone's Color Institute, the Colors of the Years were:



The icing on the cake is that the videos are pretty great mashups of the offical music videos and the cherry on the cake is that you can download each of these songs for free from his website! I included the playlists that he put out underneath the videos if you're curious and click on the year to go to his pages for those songs to grab them. Check him out! He does some great other remixes as well.





2007: "United State of Pop"
(I think, lol. They don't have the list for this so I tried to do a little research.)
Beyoncé: Irreplaceable -- Rihanna feat Jay-Z: Umbrella -- Gwen Stefani feat. Akon: The Sweet Escape -- Fergie: Big Girls Don't Cry -- T-Pain feat Yung Joc: Buy U a Drank -- Carrie Underwood: Before He Cheats --- Plain White T-Shirts: Hey There, Delilah -- Akon feat. Snoop Dogg: I Wanna Love You -- Nelly Furtado: Say It Right -- Fergie feat Ludacris: Glamourous -- Akon: Don't Matter -- Avril Lavigne: Girlfriend -- Maroon 5: Makes Me Wonder --- Shop Boyz: Party Like a Rockstar -- Akon feat. Eminem: Smack That -- Mims: This Is Why I'm Hot -- Daughtry: It's Not Over -- Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E.: The Way I Are -- Fergie feat. will. i. am: Fergalicious -- Soulja Boy Tell 'Em: Crank That (Soulja Boy) -- Timbaland feat Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake: Give It to Me -- Justin Timberlake: What Goes Around... Comes Around -- Gym Class Heroes feat. Patrick Stump: Cupid's Chokehold -- The Fray: How to Save a Life -- Daughtry: Home.

2008: "Viva la Pop"
Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain: Low -- Leona Lewis: Bleeding Love -- Alicia Keys: No One -- Lil Wayne feat. Static Major: Lollipop -- Timbaland feat. OneRepublic: Apologize -- Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown: No Air -- Sara Bareilles: Love Song -- Usher feat. Young Jeezy: Love in This Club -- Chris Brown: With You -- Chris Brown: Forever -- Ray J & Yung Berg: Sexy Can I -- Rihanna: Take a Bow -- Coldplay: Viva La Vida -- Katy Perry: I Kissed a Girl -- T.I.: Whatever You Like -- Rihanna: Disturbia -- Rihanna: Don't Stop the Music -- Natasha Bedingfield: Pocketful of Sunshine -- Chris Brown feat. T-Pain: Kiss Kiss -- Ne-Yo: Closer -- Colbie Caillat: Bubbly -- Mariah Carey: Touch My Body -- Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake: 4 Minutes -- Pink: So What -- Finger Eleven: Paralyzer.

2009: "Blame It on the Pop"
The Black Eyed Peas: Boom Boom Pow -- Lady Gaga: Poker Face -- Lady Gaga feat. Colby O'Donis : Just Dance -- The Black Eyed Peas: I Gotta Feeling -- Taylor Swift: Love Story -- Flo Rida: Right Round -- Jason Mraz: I'm Yours -- Beyonce: Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) -- Kanye West: Heartless -- The All-American Rejects: Gives You Hell -- Taylor Swift: You Belong With Me -- T.I. feat. Justin Timberlake : Dead and Gone -- The Fray: You Found Me -- Kings Of Leon: Use Somebody -- Keri Hilson feat. Kanye West & Ne-Yo: Knock You Down -- Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain: Blame It -- Pitbull: I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) -- T.I. feat. Rihanna: Live Your Life -- Soulja Boy Tell 'em feat. Sammie: Kiss Me Thru the Phone -- Jay Sean feat. Lil Wayne: Down -- Miley Cyrus: The Climb -- Drake: Best I Ever Had -- Kelly Clarkson: My Life Would Suck Without You -- Beyoncé: Halo -- Katy Perry: Hot 'n' Cold.

2010: "Don't Stop the Pop"
Ke$ha: Tik Tok -- Lady Antebellum: Need You Now -- Train: Hey, Soul Sister -- Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg: California Gurls -- Usher feat. will.i.am: OMG -- B.O.B. feat. Hayley Williams: Airplanes -- Eminem feat. Rihanna: Love the Way You Lie -- Lady Gaga: Bad Romance -- Taio Cruz: Dynamite -- Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris: Break Your Heart -- B.O.B. feat. Bruno Mars: Nothin' On You -- Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull: I Like It -- Young Money feat. Lloyd: Bedrock -- Jason Derulo: In My Head -- Rihanna: Rude Boy -- Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé: Telephone -- Katy Perry: Teenage Dream -- Bruno Mars: Just the Way You Are -- Mike Posner: Cooler Than Me -- The Black Eyed Peas: Imma Be -- Jay-Z & Alicia Keys: Empire State of Mind -- Usher feat. Pitbull: DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love -- Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars: Billionaire -- Eminem: Not Afraid -- Iyaz: Replay.


See you next year! :P
<3

Thursday, December 30

303. Noobs!

I'm not sure I've been called that so much in one day. Today was definitely the beginning of crunch time for the party setup and my folks... are on edge. Especially in matters involving my brother and I contributing to the prep work. Table set up, decor rearranged, food prepared as much as possible, more lights were put up, and the kids were thoroughly smacked around verbally. Lol.

I did manage to sneak away for a quick visit and dinner with a lovely lady and her bestie at Macaroni Grill. Delish. On the other hand, my brother and I also snuck in time to go through our trading card collection so we're prepared for heading back to the card & comic book store next week. Lol, just looking forward to a vacation in our future.

I'm totally fried, I did not function at all before I got caffeine in me. Ugh. I'm just that hopeless. I'll see you tomorrow unless my folks kick my butt into next week. XD <3

Wednesday, December 29

302. Table Talk

I'm fairly sure that that is a name of a furniture chain somewhere. :P

Had some interesting chats with my mom today that I would actually rather not get into right now. I was able to vent and talk about it with the SO and it is probably best left alone after that point, lol. So, it was her day off and we tried to kick it into high gear for the party under her supervision. We are borrowing tables from neighbors left and right as well as setting up our new ones. Lol, I can't even remember how many layouts and configurations we tried out. We really wanted to have everyone sit together as opposed to segregating by gender and age as often happens at these types of shindigs.

We even took a breather to rearrange our... collection of birds. Lol. By "our" I mean my folks'. The newest one is just so obnoxious and attention-seeking. Oh, and loud. So very loud. We reorganized who was in which cage and put them all in a new location. I even took the chance to rearrange the toys between the cages to try to keep things slightly interesting and stimulating for each of them. All of the lovebirds were brave today and ventured out into the open to see all of the commotion going on on the patio. And when we took Mr. Flashy Screaming Conure out of the shared large cage into a smaller one of his own, our sweetest dusky-headed conure went a little bonkers trying to find him. It was so sad and sweet. That one is just so nice and despite being screamed at and nipped at by the other one, still worried about where he went for those whole 15 minutes we were moving the cages in place. Lol. Theoretically, it was supposed to make our table-rearranging a much more peaceful experience. That almost worked, lol. I think we'll all like this new set up. Everyone is with or near others that they can get along with and in spots that allow plenty of room to wander around in.

My brother and I got a little excited and started to put up the decorations we bought for the party where we felt that the wind wouldn't tear away at and are setting up game plans for each day as well as a play list of music to listen to with our friends. I'm kind of excited to see how it goes. I think the last time I remember having any sort of party here, it was for my Sweet Sixteen birthday. XD Some people haven't been here since our original house warming party about 13 years ago. Good game to all parties involved (no pun intended, ha ha).

I really hope it goes well. One more day until show time! I hope any plans you all are making are going well. : ) See you tomorrow. <3

Tuesday, December 28

301. Party? Sure!

Today was a day dedicated to being a nerd and mostly hanging with my brother. :D

We got up, ran some errands, then picked up our neighbor friend to go to lunch and the beloved card and comic book store. We made it to our favorite Italian pizza and pasta buffet where adults eat for 5 smackaroonies!

Then, we went on a shopping spree of trading cards. The boys were so bad. XD We spent about three times as much time there as they had originally planned for and only went home when we realized how much time had passed. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I did my fair share of damage too. I can't wait to get a chance to sort out all of my cards. I have some Sailor Moon sticker cards from years ago, Pokemon cards in a binder, WoW cards that I'm currently hunting for just because I'm a dork and the artwork is gorgeous, Magic cards that I need to switch the sleeves for and trade with my brother's supplies, and Yugi-Oh cards that I need to categorize. Lol. So much fun! I got new card sleeves and deck boxes that better match my actual deck themes as well as stuff for the boys to play with too since they can actually battle each other and other friends where as I am purely collecting.

Then, I set up plans to hang out at the house while getting decorations for the party my folks are having. I told my mom that it's typically just like the Fourth of July but instead of red, white, and blue it is black, silver, and gold. All stars, sparklies, and fireworks. Lol.

I ended up having a few of my favorite people over, we grabbed some pizza that I forgot to help pay for!! oh well, there's the a chance in a couple of days lol, took a tour of the house, and then settled into to play some insane Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 together. It is a hilariously ridiculous game. Then, my mom cooked us a second dinner of a traditional Vietnamese soup that everyone annihilated. :D I think that made my folks' day, ha ha. I even volunteered to have a bowl myself and this was odd because I've spent a good deal of my upbringing trying to avoid having it. Rofl.

Well, I need to hit the hay and then go to bed, lol. More party-planning for tomorrow. <3

Monday, December 27

300. Clean Slate

So instead of leaving our Christmas decor up until just after the new year starts, we took down the tree and statues completely, packed them up, and put them into their yearly storage. Good gravy. However, we did have a fire lit under us because we have been elected by family friends to host a New Year's Eve party and we have to kick into high gear. I also opted out of going out and getting all crazy to spend some time with my exhausted family making game plans to prepare this Friday. I'm also making some time to spend on the game so I get my friggin' achievement for the Feast of the Winter Veil! Been at it for five years and need to become a Merrymaker already! :D

See you tomorrow. <3 I am so useless without caffeine, it's awfully pathetic. Lol.

Sunday, December 26

299. Unplanned Plans

We ran a few errands today and they didn't go as planned but they were done. After leaving the grocery store and heading to the car my arm suddenly hurt and there was a palm tree frond on the ground in front of me. We finally got the rainstorm last night that the weather people had been predicting and it was several degrees colder and very windy today. With the number of gusts going on, plants were being knocked over and outdoor furniture was being tossed about too. That not even dead branch fell across my forearm and now it's bruised. :( The sky is falling and it hurts!

I also got a chance to hang out with some of my favorite people in the world today and give them their Christmas & Birthday presents. Happy Birthday, K.Kong! :D We played video games, met new people, ran all around town trying to look for certain things to buy, shopped for completely unrelated items, and ended up playing old school multi-player racing and shooting games.

I'm happy with my little haul of a game for my brother, candy, and trading cards that I've been trying to hunt down for the past week. Hanging out with boys is fun! :P

I think that tomorrow will actually be a somewhat relaxing day at home doing chores and cleaning before we start to prepare for the new year. How exciting! Lol. See you then. <3

Saturday, December 25

298. Christmas Chaos

It has been one long day that did not involve nearly enough food nor caffeine for fuel, just mostly willpower (and some whining towards the end).

It took my brother and I took a while to get pumped about unwrapping the presents we had wrapped a mere 6-7 hours before and to get my family in the same room at the same time. And then we had a colorful and quick debate on whether or not we were going to take photos of us opening our gifts as is (in all our recently awoken glory) or whether we should start getting ready and take pictures all nicely done up. I strongly voted for the raw footage as it was how I always remember doing so growing up. We took horrid looking pictures of groggy us and we never really looked at them again let alone ever shown them to anyone. Lol. Why destroy that tradition? And that's how it happened. We opened our gifts, grabbed some quick breakfast, and then embarked on our mission to get everyone and everything ready.

We got to church (which is roughly 35-45 minutes away) about an hour and a half early (which is pretty late for us on this particular day), mass was 2.5 hours (longer than it has been in past years) and they are getting fancier with it in recent years from when I was regular XD, and we were there for another 3.5 hours for the after party in a tent that they set up in the parking lot. It is always a... sight to see and I can't even begin to explain that absolute cultural mayhem that ensues. To the untrained eye, it's pretty rough and insane. To the semi-trained eye (like mine) it's like a fascinating train wreck that we are so familiar with. And to many there, it's just how life is/ has been/ should be. Lol.

Here's pictorial stuff:

 My brother added my present and our joint custody chinchilla to the tree this morning. XD

We stuffed some treats in a bag for our puppy. :D

This is a pile of gluttonous koi in the pond out back.

One of four lovebirds and the new dusky headed conure my folks have.

The new sun conure they got yesterday of all days.

Gorgeous thing. Awfully squawky and attention needy/ easily jealous. Lol.

Yeah. It's been quite the... adventure, this trip. Lol. Let's see what tomorrow brings. I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas Day.

Friday, December 24

297. The Eve

I'm so wiped today (bad timing for that to happen!) after running around town and gift wrapping, so here are pictures:

 
Mocha Yule Log cake that I mentioned! Mmm...

  
Wreath Cookies (of different coloration)!

 
 Marshmellow'd cornflakes with red hots! More mmm...

 
 Minnie and Mickey underneath the mistletoe.

 Best house on the block in an neighborhood that goes all out with lights.
Main theme now is Disney Princesses!

 The tree we used to carol under!

The beginning of their display. XD

A Christmas Story was playing!

 
Pocahontas with Meeko and Flit.

Princess Jasmine and Rajah.

Pluto!

 Snow White with Dopey and Doc.

Ariel and Sebastian by the turtle pond.

 Tinkerbell in front of Cinderella's castle.

Princess Tiana with Prince Naveen the frog and one of the crocs, Ian or Marlon. I forget because I didn't see the movie.

Briar Rose/ Princess Aurora and her three fairies/ aunts: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. 

 Front of the castle.

Mulan, even though she isn't technically a Princess, with Mushu and Cri-Kee.

Belle with Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Chip.

Cinderella with Jaq and Gus.

 
"Snow" machine!

The Grinch with Max and Cindy Lou.

Representing Hanukah!

 Precious Moments Three Kinds/ Wisemen.

Precious Moments Nativity Scene.

Oh yes, Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Star, Squidward Tentacles, Sandy Cheeks, Mr. Krabs, Gary, and Plankton.

 Our Christmas tree complete with Lotto tickets clipped on thanks to my dad and brother. Rofl.

My brother and I kicked it into overdrive to wrap up presents for the family. I'm not sure why. XD Friggin' boy refused to keep anything a secret, dangit! I told him not to tell me, that bum. Lol. Oh well, I'm off to not get any restful sleep before a day-long marathon of church-related activity. It could get interesting, lol. 

Have a wonderful Christmas Eve and a magical day tomorrow. <3

Thursday, December 23

296. Crunched

Today was yet another busy day that was significantly less polished and planned than the past two, lol.

It was full of random visits and almost visits, chores upon chores to catch up on since more people were finally home, and the unexpected occurrences. My brother and I have literally run out of the house down the street to the car and up and left on some wild goose chase more than once today, lol. Re-setting up trees, rearranging entire rooms, Wendy's new fries (severely disappointed, btw), and no-baking treats made with my brother.

I can't even begin to think of what else about it I should write about. I have a picture or two I wanted to post today but my head keeps drifting towards my pillow so it will have to wait.

"Two more sleeps" everyone. Then, it will all be over and we can look forward to the let loose partying of NewYear's Day. See you tomorrow. <3

Wednesday, December 22

295. Flurries

There was such a whirlwind of activity today and yet I feel totally mellow even though I've been going nonstop for the past 12-13 hours.

I'm trying to remember everything now and this morning feels so long ago, it's almost as if it happened another day, lol. Let's see. The day started off with a haircut and pedicure (Lord, knows that I needed both!), then off to the mall to be detoured into being kicked out of the car to take advantage of McDonald's local Customer Appreciation campaign in which you buy a Big Mac and get another one for an additional penny (Yeah, my brother and I were all over that!) while my mom went to pick up a bag of frozen shrimp and a homemade mocha-frosted yule log-shaped cake. XD

My mom and I went ahead to the mall where we found out that our favorite stores were having a 40% off of our entire purchase sales. Excuse me?! Lol, we usually only go in to grab a specific piece or two when we need them but holy cow! I am like the only bum that I know of that can manage to go on vacation and come back with better and more clothes than what I left with. We actually found a dress for me to wear to church on Christmas Day in record time and my mom bought me a few really nice/ cute staple pieces to add to my wardrobe. I would wear nothing but ill-fitting jeans and cheap t-shirts if it weren't for her. A bag lady of sorts. Of course this mall is crazier than any mall I've seen in in my new city and I worked at the mall on Black Friday last year. HA.

Then, I met up with my brother peruse our local beloved card and comic store. They older gentlemen that work there are so sweet and funny and kind. I just adore them!! Like with anything else I do in life, I have dabbled and do own a few comics and trading cards from different games. :D Nerd/dork here and loving it. They didn't have the brand of cards I was hoping to grab but my brother made out like a bandit! He bought gifts for a friend and a few booster packs for himself. The gentleman helping us told us to open up the packs now, check them out, and then call him over to appraise the haul to see if we scored or not. Long story short, we did! Then, he kept praising a few theme coming out for the series that my brother was collecting so we said we'd check it out. Fast forward and the three of us had sorted through 48 recently opened booster packs and went nuts organizing them all. We caught a few uncommon rarity cards that were not removed prior to being put into the 25 cent common card box and by the end of it the lovely gentleman decided to give my brother three of each card that they had many of for free. All in all, there were 110 cards of which they could have sold for at least $28 total my brother walked away with. We were aghast, but he insisted. That's the kind of amazingly kind and cool stuff they do there. They get to know their customers, genuinely care about all of this, and cut loyal ones a break every now and then. I friggin' love that place. I never walk in expecting to pay nothing but full price and I am often treated with the same kindness. I need to dig my trading cards out... jeez.

On the way home, my brother and I are distracted by going to Target and Toys 'R' Us because we're dumb like that. It's friggin'  three days before Christmas and they are in essence in the same plaza as our only indoor shopping mall. We did walk away with a movie and such. Needless to say, everything today took about twice as long as it should have, but I had a blast.


It got even better when I had another friend come over to visit!! I love coming back and having conversations that mostly consist of yelling at each other about how we should have already reunited last week. XD My mom told me to just invite her over for dinner after she had been driving for the past several hours from upstate. Hooray homecooked meal!! There was quite the spread that I have to boast about because I have seriously missed my mother's cooking. It's only big because we wanted to have leftovers that would last us the next couple of days before all of the parties. An entire turkey and an entire honey-baked ham, giant bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy, batch of small potatoes, and a heap of sweet corn giblets and broccoli. O.M.G. Lol. And my mom just shrugged it off and merely called it just another dinner even though we know she put a good amount of effort into it. Yeah, it really isn't as intense as the feasts she could put on but still! That's a serious weeknight dinner, right?

We gobbled it down and watched the live action movie of Alvin and the Chipmunks on TV while we rested. Then we had some of the mocha-flavored cake when my dad came back from some really long errand. Well it turns out that he had gone to pick up a large bird cage he bought online and it ended up coming with a bird. ... What?! My folks recently started having lovebirds as pets. They have four now and each are a different shade, it's really kind of cool and I'll try to catch a picture of them but they're kind of timid around strangers. Namely me. This new bird is a Dusky-headed conure which is a fancy word for parakeet. Smart creatures. My folks hope that they all get along in the large cage but we're researching into how to go about doing that. It has been one random hectic but exhilarating day! I've even started making more plans today for tomorrow and the next few days. Lol. It's another crazy chaos but I'm just along for the ride and that takes away so much pressure that I usually tend to pile upon myself. It's good to be back here again.

Being with even more people who care about me that I don't get to see all that often is such a wonderful gift that I am grateful for. Heck, I'm increasingly grateful to have all of these people in my life, period! 

I'll see you tomorrow and hope your holiday season is going well. <3

Tuesday, December 21

294. Landed

I survived and it wasn't too bad even if my six hour flight consisted of no movies or food. I've already had one visit with a friend and some yummy dinner at Chili's (of which I have been having a craving for and loved the whole experience) and my brother already did a mini run around our end of town to score various supplies for gifts, gift wrapping, and baking.

Apparently, I have a jam-packed day planned for me tomorrow. I am afraid. Ha ha. I think it involves an makeover/ overhaul. I am very afraid.

Two more gifts, four more cards, and a bunch of little gifts to wrap asap to finally be done! I'd be more excited about the finish line if I weren't so pooped.

See you tomorrow! <3

Monday, December 20

293. Full & Gone

Needless to say that today was a flurry of activity. It was not ideal, but very productive anyways!

FMIL and I starched and pinned several snowflakes that she crocheted to a large bulletin board she scored a few weeks ago at a garage sale for a dollar. Actually she got two of them for two dollars. We used over 500 pins so it took us a little longer than anticipated. After trying to let them dry while being propped up on top of the couch, we snuck in a trip to Michaels where I picked up two supplies for an art project I hope to do with my friends when I come visit and she picked up a quick-drying fabric stiffener spray and acrylic sealant spray for this project. Below is the end result with my beloved step-kitty son as an unwilling backdrop:

*Nom nom nom*

He did start nibbling on the snow while we cracked up laughing trying to take the picture. She did several designs and I hope to get more pictures of them later on. I'm bringing some back as a gift for my folks. Isn't that so sweet? It was grocery shopping time too and she got her holiday treat supplies and even made a bag of roasted walnuts and pecans that were covered in cinnamon and sugar! Unfortunately, I'm not checking any baggage and I didn't want to risk having to throw them out tomorrow at the airport. It would be such a waste of such a yummy treat! 

Some of us crammed in a dinner together to catch some of the Vikings - Bears game and stuffed ourselves full with the deals that they offered. Um, $25 for two garden salads, four sides, two 1/2 lb. rib eye steaks, and an appetizer/ dessert? With $1 off of drinks? You bet your bottom we're rolling ourselves away after the fact!

I was packing and helping clean around the house and the room. It is for once in a really long time (it feels that way but has only been since the late October upheaval) it is finally as open as it's going to get. Phew. Not as organized as I would hope, but I had to pick my present winnable battles. Ha ha. 

Even managed to stop by the bank and the pet store where we went for kitty litter and also snagged some gifts for our four legged friends. At least the younger ones. I just realized we forget to get it for the cat that is death incarnate. She's about/ at least 14 years old and crotchety and bipolar and terrifying. Aw. Maybe we'll just give her the gift of peace and a case of leave-me-the-heck-alone-already. I think she'll like that. XD 

I'm also finally all packed up and I think it's a little bad that 75% of the bulk I'm taking are presents. I was totally going to just send everyone on that coast a card and a long distance hug but nooo, I had to end up heading back and not feeling comfortable just giving the gift of my presence. Lol, I highly doubt that's good enough. I can make for some awful company sometimes, ha ha ha. 

Even going to catch the lunar eclipse tonight! 

Yep, jammed packed it was/ is. I really hope that I have a smooth day of traveling tomorrow. I've been too busy to get nervous about it until now. To think a few years ago, traveling alone would give me a panic attack. I've gotten much braver and I hope that keeps up tomorrow. Wish my luck and see you then! <3

Sunday, December 19

292. With A Bow

Everything is coming together as if with a fancy ribbon whether I like it or not. At this point, it doesn't seem to matter if I can get it done on time because there is not time. :P Learning time management will most definitely become one of my New Year's resolutions. Oh joy.

I'm still trying to make time to spend with the family here before being away for two or so weeks. I really wish we could somehow all be in the same place at the same time together, especially during these family-oriented holidays. One day, hopefully.

We're even setting some time aside to do the holiday events in game. It's pretty bad when the virtual happenings feel more like the season than reality. Oh well, the magic of visuals.

Rawr! I need to figure out what to do with all this stuff so I can pack! Gah! See you tomorrow, lol. <3

Saturday, December 18

291. Cinderella

You know how I mentioned bubbles yesterday? Well, there's a scene in Disney's Cinderella where she is scrubbing away at the floor and sings to herself and harmonizes with her reflections in the bubbles that she's creating. I kind of felt like her this evening but superbly less glamorous.

I spent my evening scrubbing the floor in the room to do my darnedest at getting rid of... well, cat pee. It has come to a point where our cat is so bent on avoiding confrontation with his bully of a cousin cat that he is afraid to use the communal litter box down the hall in the bathroom. Whenever he needs to go number one, he half tries each day to head down there and then decides to heck with that and goes somewhere in his room. Friggin' A. I was scrubbing at dressers, bins, and walls.

The more and more I think about it, I feel that I really could use a brief vacation from everyday life as it is now. The visit to my folks is coming just on time in that aspect.

Hm, what else? Oh! The FMIL and I finally had a chance to work on her handmade Christmas cards. Not only did we crank out 45 cards of our design, but I think she got the majority of them written and addressed tonight! How great is that? Last night, we had the oh so brilliant idea of trying to get the family together to take a portrait to include with these cards. Oh man. XD The stars aligned and everyone ended up being available this afternoon and I called them all to arms in the midst of our card-making to dress up and we tried to get a picture in the blinding late afternoon sun. Lol. They are far from perfect, for half of them the boys are wearing sunglasses and/or baseball caps. Awesome. And we were still squinting. Not to mention we didn't think about who would take the photo of us and rearranged the outdoor furniture to put the camera on timer. At least we got one semi-goofy picture in the end that I'm fairly pleased with, ha ha. Now, to vote on which to use and figure that step out.

Here's the card we worked on today made with mostly Stampin' Up products:


Here's mine for this year, also made mostly with SU products:


I feel that they both look better in person. :P

We also went to dinner and my reasoning to do so was because we were all dressed up with no where to go. XD We even stuffed ourselves with some desert:


A hot fudge sundae and a brownie fudge sundae! Go ahead, be a little envious, I'll wait. Rofl. Good stuff.

Off to handle more laundry before bed. Mmm... warm clothes. It's finally getting colder and colder here! Imagine, a winter that feels like winter. Ha ha. See you tomorrow! <3

Thursday, December 16

290. Bubble Buster

No, not the addicting flash game or whatnot. :P

I had a friend post one of those "report this if..." status messages earlier. For the first millisecond, it was a sweet concept but then I tore it apart because... some people are ridiculous when they come up with these things. Here is how it went:

"A true friend doesn't care when you're broke, what you weigh, if your house is a mess, what you drive, about your past, or if your family is filled with crazy people. Your conversations pick up where they left off even if it's been months (years). They love YOU for who you are. Repost if you have at least one true friend. They'll know who they are..♥"

My reply?

"Here's the thing- I would care If you're broke, I'd help you out. If you blew up like a balloon, I would worry about your self esteem. If your house was a mess, I would wonder about your health. If you drove a train wreck on three wheels, I... would be concerned about your safety. If your past is coming to haunt you, I would want to help you conquer it and move on. If your family was filled with crazy people that you didn't want to be around, I would want to open my home as a refuge. :P Sorry to burst your forwarding bubble, but if I didn't care about those things, I wouldn't be a very good friend. ♥" 

Lol. I'm such a butt sometimes but I'm a well-meaning butt. :D

Meh, I should probably go back to doing something productive like folding the laundry or something now. Lol, see you tomorrow. <3 

289. Elephants On Parade

I finished the... stocking stuffers I've been working on today! That's 10 done and I could not be happier, lol. Well, I could be because I originally wanted to add little fancy decorations and then I realized to do so would be completely insane at this eleventh hour. I'm leaving on Tuesday and can't even remember where the luggage bag that I want to take with me is in the garage.

At least we finally received some of the dreary winter weather that has been sweeping around the nation today. Completely overcast, cold, windy, and damp. Unfortunately, it only started to be stormy right when we were going to head out for last minute shopping. I know, it's holiday/ cosmos karma for procrastinating but in my defense, I've been looking for these items and could not find them during earlier errand runs.

The school had their office holiday party tonight. The hosting house was stunning! So homey and yet so beautifully remodeled and decorated for Christmas. A different themed tree in every room, a drool-worthy office chock full of technology hidden behind a bookcase doorway, an indoor half court for the grandchildren? It's not like it was a mansion or anything- besides, that's not my style- but I definitely have a dream house goal idea thing in mind now. I finally realize what it could look like someday. The SO and I like to play a little game of what we'd do if we were filthy rich and we're totally serious about our ideas and daydreams about 97% of the time. It's a pretty fun way of getting to know each others' interests and determine what's really important to you. Suffice to say, everyone around us should be worried if for some freak reason it ever happened.

Back to the party, it was pretty darn fun. Great food and company and at the end we played a little game called White Elephant. Nearly everyone who attended participated and we each bring a wrapped gift that's either something kind of wacky or random from our own homes or a gift(s) for $10 or under.

 The White Elephant White Tree (sans Elephants)

We drew numbers and the first person chooses a gift, opens it and shows everyone. Then, the next person to go can choose whether to steal that gift or open a new one. So on and so forth, you don't have to steal from the person before you, it can be anyone who has gone and if you have your gift stolen, you can open a new one. Any gift can only belong to a total of three people before it is locked to the last person and taken out of the pool. At the end, the first person gets to choose whether to stick with their gift or trade with anyone. Some people were a little mischievous and used boxes that had nothing to do with what was inside. It was hilarious when things were snatched and what ended up being highly valued and by whom. I have never heard of this before and thought it was a blast!

Here's what ended up being the gift that I chose:

Isn't that a complete hoot?
 A book, tiny pot to grow Italian Rye grass, a candy cane tree, and a VHS tape of Abs of Steel. I think one of the boys actually has a VCR around here somewhere. We're planning to watch it as a family and cry tears of laughter. That counts as a workout, right? XD 

 A close up of the cute tiny candy gingerbread man on my tree.


Also, I finally feel like I'm getting the big ticket items on my imposing to-do list completed. All the gifts for here have been gotten and are now wrapped underneath the tree. Those furry four-legged crazies better leave them alone or I might have a cow from two thousand miles away! They can play with all the paper and tissue on Christmas, dagnabbit! LOL.

Well, despite the weather, today was a very fun and successful day and for that I am so very grateful. I have no idea what I should be doing tomorrow, but I'm sure my lists will tell me. Lol See you then! <3

Wednesday, December 15

288. Here's My Card

Ha ha ha. I almost made a funny up there.

Didn't get much sleep for a multitude of reasons and a certain Mr. Kitty Cat had something to do with it. For some reason he just had way too much energy last night. Kept jumping up, not just on the bed, but specifically landing on me just to trample me. At one point he wanted to be pet and doted on so badly, that when I turned and lifted my head to look at him, I was promptly headbutted square in the face. To add insult to injury, too much close contact with kitty and one's face results in several hours of feeling fur everywhere. The last straw was early in the morning when I heard the neighborhood dogs, including the family dog, barking like mad and loud banging and thumping. I sat up and listened for a bit and could have sworn that it was javelina knocking down everyone's trash cans and rifling through them. I really did. On goes the robe and flip flops as I groggily make my way outside to remember that... trash day was two days ago- the bins aren't out. Plus, it's early but it's still daylight and they like to root around in darkness. Yeah, the puppy was just barking at a passerby, critter, or car but the loud noises I heard were real, just what was probably construction starting in the cul de sac the next street over. Awesome.

Fast forward past the early start to the day and nearly all of the cards that need to be sent out ahead of time made it to the mailbox! I'm still missing a few addresses but that project is at the finish line! Huzzah! My mind would not turn off last night either and I realized that I might need a few stocking stuffers or on hand gifts for my trip back to Florida! I'm pretty sure I've wished for 75 days of December in that we would have twice as long this month to prepare for the theoretically joyous occassion during which I will probably wish I spent in bed dreaming of sugarplums or what-nots through. Hence I was on the hunt for relatively quick handmade gifts. I'm pretty sure my crucial to-do list is buried underneath mounds of cardstock and scraps. Not to mention that my hands are covered in quick dry glue. T_T/ XD Oye. I'm trying to contain a total meltdown/ freak out and I'm fairly certain that you all can sense that by now. Ha ha.

I need to get back to my self-imposed sweat shop. Peace out and see you tomorrow! (Save me!) <3

Tuesday, December 14

287. Getting There

I definitely bunkered down today to cross more things off of my to do list. I got my snacks and set up shop/ took over the living room. The end result? Thirty handmade cards to make 5 sets of 6 different designs. I'm pretty impressed with myself. I obeyed one of the basic rules of mass producing cards: Do not start from scratch. I found a collection of card sketches (aka layout ideas that you are allowed by the creators to "lift") from making-birthday-cards.com and chose simple designs. I have to say I'm pleased with how they each turned out too. On occasion, I am dissatisfied with what I end up with, just like any other crafter.

Hm. Let's look at fun stuff instead of recounting the junk that's stressing me out, lol.

 Our ever classy kitty that I snuck up on while he was passed out napping. 

 
We figured if he wanted to commandeer his daddy's sweaters, he might as well be comfy. 
Normally, like many cats, he doesn't like stuff on him, but he actually fell asleep like this until it got too warm for him. XD

  
That blur in the middle was an injured coyote that was across the street. :(

 The tree that I helped set up! Complete with southwestern tree skirt. :)

Now I feel a little better but of course I have to kill that mood with returning to writing the rest of the 40 cards I want to send out by tomorrow. Oh joy. Got to love the holiday season! See you tomorrow if I survive. :P <3

Monday, December 13

286. Senseless

Today was... a little ridiculous. So, here's to tomorrow being chock full of productivity! See you then. <3

Sunday, December 12

285. Rawr Rawr Rawr

Rawr. Homework is poo. Can you tell that the stress of the holidays are getting to me? Yeah... Lol. I'll be glad when this is all over. Bah! A pretty big love-hate relationship going on here so I'm going to take some precious time I have right now to relax. See you tomorrow and hope your plans are going smoothly! <3

Saturday, December 11

284. Crunch Crunch

I wish that was the sound of fresh powdered snow on the mountain compressing beneath my boots. Alas, while some parts of the country are enduring blizzards, we have yet to see a hint of precipitation this winter. Even though we were nudging temperatures slightly below freezing last week, this week has been full of 80 degree weather. No fun at all for winter.

How are we supposed to get into the festive mood when we have to rip off our sweaters so we don't pass out? Bah!

What we do still feel is the stress of getting all the holiday business taken care of by the deadlines. It's crunch time. We rounded up the troops around the house today and did our best to collect all of the boxes marked Christmas into the living room. Each was sorted through and now all of the decor is unpacked with about 80% of it distributed throughout the house, the tree is set up and decorated, and lights are being put up or fixed outside. I need to finish up my shopping, finished making gifts, and pack for my trip to visit my folks! Not to mention try to keep up with my classes. Or finishing the room remodel.

At least I finished a third of the cards today. For some batches, my mind is completely blanked as to what to say. I can't stand saying the same thing over and over again. This is especially so when I know that the recipients are close enough in proximity that cards could clash and I can't have that now can I? Lol. It's my first time trying to cast such a wide net! I'm doing it all by hand and I can surrender to the singular stamped message a few years down the road. I'm supposed to be all optimistic, bright eyed, and bushy tailed when I first start out trying to establish my own traditions! XD I'm just a smidgen jaded.

Now, if we could only get all of the animals to attempt to get along or at least peacefully coexist... that would be wonderful and save probably an hour a day. Breaking up fights, chasing after flying fur, and cleaning up obliterated surfaces gets old fast. Lol, like having a herd of unruly children running amuck. Ha ha, yeah, not going to happen under our watch or if we have anything to say about it.

I need to start thinking about what I'm going to bring with me on my trip... but that can wait until the morning. I really need to just pour myself into bed. I'm hoping to hang out at the city street fair tomorrow. They have it twice a year and it features food, fun, and arts & crafts!! I shall post a picture of the ornament I got there last year tomorrow.

Friday, December 10

283. Designer

I'm on yet another kick. It happens to be a blog-making one. Oh dear, right?

I'm messing around with two ideas. One is for a friend and their work and one is for my game because I'm a dork like that. Who knows if anyone would use it though, ha ha.

Bah, I'm wiped and need to go lay down. I really hope I'm not coming down with something. See you tomorrow. <3

Thursday, December 9

282. Revolution

Another crazy day at school! One more to go this week! There must be something in the water. Or maybe it was the cold weather this morning even though it reached about 80 degrees by the afternoon. Ridiculous. Doing our best to crank out any holiday lessons we can while we still have the kids and I guess I did my best to turn the classroom upside down. FMIL and I threw half of the lesson plans out the window and scrambled to redo it between last night and this morning, lol.

I even managed to make a new mural landscape for their hallway that was slightly more winter themed. That makes a Halloween, Autumn, and Winter scene set. Huzzah? Lol. I also went ahead and typed up the wish lists that the kids wrote to Santa in which they had to say how good they felt they had been, three reasons/ ways how they were good, and the things that they wanted. Some of them are pretty darn funny. Well, we printed out two copies- one for them to take home with the holiday card I designed but they colored and one that I hung up in the hallway. It's great, we have menorahs, poinsettias, and Dear Santa letters. It's all so sweet.

Most of my evening has been dominated with the contents of the package I received in the mail today! Hooray! Memory Mixer 3, a digital scrapbooking software. You get what you paid for but I've started to upload many of the freebies I've been collecting and I'm pretty satisfied with the capabilities of the software from what I've been able to experiment with thus far. Excited and tentative thumb up!

I shall go play some more before bed. See you tomorrow! <3

Wednesday, December 8

281. A Sign?

*sings* I saw the sign- It opened up my eyes- I saw the sign! Man, old school. Lol.

We ran a few errands today and are almost done with our Christmas shopping now. Phew. One more to buy and then the rest I need to make myself. Oh joy. I wrapped the ones we already have up though! We also had a birthday in the family today so we went out to celebrate that as well.

Went to a new Mexican restaurant in town and had some decently yummy food. They even make the salsa table-side and had a live Mariachi band! We got them to sing Happy Birthday/ Feliz Cumpleaños and then Feliz Navidad because we're sad and couldn't think of another song to request on the spot. Retroactively, the boys thought we should have requested "Eye of the Tiger." XD Oh boy. The restaurant even brought out a big slice of delicious chocolate cake and a tin foil hat that they shaped like pig tails. Rofl. We kept it, of course.

I tried to go and conquer one of my biggest fears today. It would have also been one of my lifetime goals. Um... yeah. I fell flat on my face before making it out of the starting gates. Just a tad discouraging/ heart breaking. I just... really hope that this was not a sign that I shouldn't try to accomplish this right now because I would really like to. :( Meh, I'll write more about it when I actually get it done, I suppose. /frown.

Well, that's all I have for today. See you tomorrow! <3

Tuesday, December 7

280. Eruption

Bahaha. We were fairly entertained by the company we had in line last night. Silly kids. XD It all culminated in seeing some of them run to their cars as soon as they obtained their copies of the game and high tailing it out of the parking lot. The occupancy of that particular location was so small that I was made to wait outside while the SO grabbed both of our copies. We sat around the Starbucks for some time prior too that but after they had closed but we did get a bunch of free Hungry Howie's cheese pizza with the garlic bread crust. Mmm...

I love our Collector's Editions. They came with an exclusive in-game companion pet, soundtrack, art book, mouse pad, behind the scenes dvd, and a pack of their trading cards. I can't quite redeem my special card code because of my standing in the game but all in due time. I am also starting off flat broke in the game. Oh wait, not flat, but in debt. I never used to take loans or borrow money in game but had a large moment of weakness not too long ago to fulfill one of my digital goals of five years. Bah! I can't quite afford to open up the new opportunities that this expansion has made available. However, we did manage to make our Worgen. They are lupine-esque beings and we've been reserving names and determining which of our old characters we would delete to make room for this new one for a while now.

Underwater is a new realm for us to explore and I thought that was really cool. Especially because a friend and I had predicted it would be the next frontier just shortly after the last expansion was released. Lol. I'm still staying inside and looking out a mental window at all of the changes that have happened within the game over the past few months. Sigh. I think I'd actually like to stop thinking about it right now. XD

I did manage to finish up making my extra holiday cards last night, so that was another step done. Just, you know, a million more to go! Lol. Oye. I'm beaming with all sorts of excitement and worry, so don't mind me. :P

I spent some of today catching up with sorting through my cornucopia of web bookmarks. Oye, am I a net info hound. At the same time, I've also virtually run around collecting more freebies for digital scrapbooking and I am so excited to start soon. I probably won't be as fluent with it in time to make cute gifts this holiday season, but next year could be interesting. Teehee! :D

Well, I'm off to do another spur of the moment project for a friend! See you tomorrow. <3

Monday, December 6

279. Anticipation

I'm awaiting the arrival of two somewhat important packages in the mail soon and I can hardly wait. Also, the midnight release of the latest expansion to our game drops tonight! The SO and I are heading to a party for it at the store. Apparently, there will be free pizza. :D

The day was crazy with the kids today. They just kind of decided to be wild, I guess. They did a very good job at it too, lol. Right now, our kitty seems to have drank from the same water that the students had today because his usually very dignified self is bouncing off the walls like a crazed maniac.

Ha ha, I'm going to go play with him before we head out. See you tomorrow if I don't pass out after getting my game fix in! <3

Sunday, December 5

278. Digital Craze

Anticipating is rising for the drop of the latest expansion to the online game that the SO and I play. To say the least, we're flipping out. :D It's really tempting to go to a midnight release to pick up our already reserved special edition copies. Yeah, we are well aware of how nerdy/ dorky this makes us and we are very proud of it.

He also reminded me that I can easily transfer some of the pictures that I've managed to take with my cell phone to my computer. So... here are some pictures that I've been meaning to share!

This is our kitty's cousin by relation on his new nap spot.
I've caught him mixing on the fish's eyeball. XD

 
This is the paper gingerbread house after I finally assembled it and before I started to paint it!

 FMIL did this after we finished our meal at a restaurant.
It's pretty easy to do and theoretically, the shaker is poised on a single grain.

 We actually found him in the garage today!
We think he's a little gila monster which have nasty venomous bites and he was relocated into the desert by one of the boys. That's where I snapped this picture. /shudder.

Other than that, I got a little bit more Christmas shopping done online and may have gotten something crafty for myself despite having behaved so well lately. Ack! /frown. I actually got it to help make things for others, but yeah... We'll see. Until tomorrow! <3
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