When you see this, quote Leo McGarry.

"A little thing called team morale, Josh, you gotta make people feel good about themselves. All right, shut the hell up, everybody, I've fired more people than you before breakfast."

Ahh the good old days...

Sorry, everyone, I should have updated before now. Yes, I suck.

Hm, I don't have an "I suck" icon nor a soccer icon...

Let's see, what's going on? The big news - we flew (I flew!) to Atlanta a few weeks ago for Power Soccer. My team got 4th... not what we wanted, of course. Lots to work on next year. But it was such a fun trip! My sister lives in the area and we spent some time being tourists (went to the World of Coca Cola, basketball game). I got a cold / ear infection (with massive pain on the way home) but other than that it was a very successful little mini-vacation.

I'm having a party this Sunday. Which nobody seems to be free to come to. :( Bummmmer.

I've been playing Wii. Too much. But it's a lot of fun. :) I've also been watching Euro 2008. Spain up 1-0 now in the second half...

I have been doing work but not catching up on email or learning IT things. Yes, I suck.

I am tired of all this smokey air. It's gross. It is really bad here, what with 800 fires!! And there was a chance of lightning again last night so who knows how many more there are today...

Oh, I need to go write my article. Alright, I'm off to do that!

I am proud to be an alumni of the university John Carlos and Tommie Smith attended. But this year, the IOC has issued a blanket ban on such statements: "... the IOC decreed that all athletes must refrain from clothing, gestures and written or oral statements that demonstrate "political, religious or racial propaganda" at Olympic venues."

This article in the San Jose Mercury News is worth the read.

Also, thank you all so much for your comments about Shadow. I still haven't been able to look at photos (and part of me is afraid that there aren't going to be as many as I wish there were), but I am doing better. :)

I had the first few lines of a poem in my head, but I was too sad to write them down, too sad to remember them. And now all I can do is write in plain words.

Last week I lost one of my kitties, my little boy, Shadow. It's so devastating to lose a member of my family so suddenly, when he was just here. The day before he tried to curl up on my chest, like he did when he was a baby, but he's too big. He was just here... and now he's gone... and it's horrible. I've been through devastation... numbness... and now I'm just sad. Sad that he's not here with me, like he should be.

I don't yet have the heart to look for photos of him, but I will, and I'll post some here when I do.

Dangit, I was feeling like writing and getting all set to update a lot and then I got a hangnail. Which makes typing uncomfortable. So you get less of an update, so you can at least be grateful for that. ;) (One point for finding the quote.)

So, I had a bit of a crappy week. I had a bad reaction to either the third Gardasil shot or physical therapy on my neck. (Note: Don't do things at the same time you do Gardasil or you won't be able to tell what you're reacting to.) Either way, my arms got hot and red and swollen and by Friday it had traveled into my neck and my head. On Saturday I was totally groggy for practice and later looked like I had gotten in a fight, with the skin around my eyes and my mouth turning green. :( Luckily an ultrasound revealed no clot in the arm and the swelling dissipated with the use of ice packs and ingestion of a whole bunch of Advil and Tylenol. I'm surprised my stomach hasn't revolted, but I was surprisingly hungry today, which I take as a good sign. Today my doctor said it doesn't really feel like it's inflamed and he ordered blood tests. Cuz if it's not inflamed, wtf is it?!?! Just random fluid?? I don't know, I wasn't terribly reassured, I was only reassured by the fact that he was very concerned but not too terribly worried. If that makes sense. Anyway... I've stopped physical therapy and I go back to the doctor next Monday to follow up on the blood tests.

So I actually felt like working and writing today, two very good things. Except, of course, for said hangnail. But I did get quite a bit of work done earlier. And maybe this'll get me to settle down with a book later.

In other good news:

I've got my laptop back to working order, I think. I like the new one. Of course, there are rumors that the new MacBook is going to have the keyboard from the MacBookAir which I envy and am going to want omg liek now if/when it comes out.

D-backs come back from a poor showing in Cinci to SWEEP Colorado over the weekend and beat the Dodgers tonight! 4 home runs tonight! No runs allowed by the bullpen! An incredibly cool new HD jumbotron! (Gigatron, more like it.)

USPSA FINALLY announced Nationals. Except by now half the flights I was looking at are no longer listed as being available. I am so pissed it's not even funny.

Book or tv or dvd.... off to ponder. 'Night!

Bullet list update!

The Good

I actually went to one of my PT jobs today and it ended up being a very productive session

I got new soccer shoes!! And some new regular shoes. I think I'm becoming a shoe person.

I got a new phone battery (the bad: it had been losing its charge after 1 day)

My campaign clients seem to be happy with their websites

It's spring break! Nothing to do for the high school!

The Mediocre

I thought I had a good design for my team's website and now it's not coming out that way

I really need to work on a spreadsheet for one of my volunteer positions

I really need to work on my bubbleficathon

My doctor's appt for tomorrow was cancelled (the good: yay, free time! the bad: I need him to check up on my pulse and blood pressure)

I keep forgetting to call for baseball tickets

My new hair color isn't as bright as I want it to be... yo, how soon is it safe to color again?

The Beautiful

The weather. Really, it's just about perfect. A little less wind and it would be.

My friend Megan and I went to Golden Gate Park on Friday for her birthday. It was a gorrrgeous day in the city, particularly from the 9th floor observatory. (Crystal clear, no fog!) MUNI conductors were great and we didn't get lost!


Okay, I'm getting sleepy, probably no A's/Red Sox for me tonight. Catch yas later.

Aww check out these babies! Aren't they adorable???

My Steamrollers played 3 games today... and won all 3! Complete shutout, too! It was great. umlautless I have your truffles! I need to get the correct shipping bag but I'll email you when they ship. Anyone else interested in truffles?? :)

Tired. Food, and probably a Netflix, which I've been sadly ignoring. I need to get these back!

Hey all! Boy, I didn't realize it had been so long since I updated! And even longer since I *really* updated! But I still read my flist several times a day, so even though I'm bad at commenting, I am still reading. kelbelle, you go girl with the run!! austin360, I cannot believe how fast your sabbatical went. I hope work is fresh for you now. pixelarios, ella_bee, cherryice - where are you girls?

Life has been crazy busy, but also crazy good in that sense. I like to be busy; I felt lazy and useless in the months after I quit work; and now I've got a lot going on, which has helped a lot. I finished a crazy three week plan/film/edit/deliver Arts video for the high school, which was my main project for them. Now I'm finishing up the Arts website and there's probably going to be one for another department, plus some modules for their main school site. I have my regular list of web clients that need work done, though thankfully that list hasn't grown. I'm doing soccer practice of my own and regular Saturday practice, plus fundraising efforts which I'm not doing a very good job at. (More on that later!) And oh yeah I haven't made much progress on the other PT job I'm supposed to be spearheading. Uh....yeah, gotta get on that liek now omg eleventy one.

So I kinda volunteered to back the fundraising efforts of my soccer team and I'm not doing a very good job of it but I'm trying to do better. We've raised about $3500 in recent weeks, but we need to quadruple that in the next two and a half months to afford Nationals. (Hot-tlanta in June, woo!) Soooo... if any of you lovely people want to help.... :) We're selling truffles!! Really good hand-made truffles that I can vouch for because we tasted them. They are safe to mail in nice sealed bags. Also, if you're in the area, we're going to be holding a spaghetti night in May and I will keep you abreast of those developments. And if you feel generous and would like to donate anyway (we are a 501c3, you will get a letter), of which we would be ever ever ever so appreciative, you may donate to our Paypal account at sanjosesteamrollers @ gmail . com!

Personal life... um... yeah? Does vegging with Angela and Richard on Friday count? I haven't been very active socially but that's okay. I kinda need friends to do that with and my friends have no social life either lol. :P But I did color my hair again, a lighter, more noticeable shade. Yay. :) Now I definitely look related to my sisters.

I am way behind on Lost. As in, haven't started watching my tivos of it yet. Heh, oops. Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty are coming back in April, but no Dirty Sexy Money until fall which is major boo-worthy.

Hmm, should I struggle with this streaming video, or should I struggle with this site design... oh the quandaries! Laters, all! :)

( I want Valentine messages too...pretty please... )

In other news, I love sunshine, and I love pain pills. And both on the same day is just weeee!

Stealing from kelbelle: Rain, rain, go away! You woke me up an hour early this morning, though luckily you're not leaking into my window again. But you haven't stopped in at least 15 hours and it's getting rather old. :( Not that I don't love water and all, but a little break from the noise now and then would be appreciated kthxbai.

Stealing from austin360:


Kinda true, too! But that made me even sadder I don't have a boyfriend. :( I had watched Ugly Betty earlier, with the sexual tension up the wazoo, then that, then Bring It On #2 was on.. sigh. I need to get me a man. I'm going to go find another romantic movie to watch.

In good news: I was hired by my Assemblyman to work for his non-profit! It's not much, but it's a nice group of people, a good cause, and a great opportunity to be around politics again. (In fact I think the phone is the same one headquarters used 4 years ago, ha.)

Okay. Netflix time. :)

I feel like writing.. but I don't know what to write about. So I'm starting out random, in the hopes it might turn into something.

Oh gosh, I still haven't written about the soccer tournament. ( Ha, I found a topic! )

I did get to do a few cool non-soccer things while there. We went to dinner Friday night at a cousin's house (way out in the middle of nowhere) and ALL my family was there! My little baby girl cousin (15 months) is sooo adorable! And various cousins came to the two games on Saturday. And on the way home Sunday, we took a very slight detour and drove around Chase Field to see and take pictures of my boys' ballpark! :D

Hm... I should have written that up more as a narrative. Maybe I'll do that some time, with more of a back story to the sport and photos and stuff.

I am actually keeping pretty busy though! In fact I should be writing several emails, working on a few websites, or clipping a video. I'm working with a local high school on a few projects, and the police department finally cleared me to work! I don't know what I'll be teaching yet, but.. we'll see. Plus I was also recently "hired" to be the office person for a non-profit one of our local politicians runs. That's part-time, so I can do that and work for the high school.

I was at the high school this afternoon when I heard about Heath Ledger. :( That totally blew me away... I'm still in shock. He seemed like a genuinely good person, and he was a great actor. I'm so sad for him and for his family. :(

Television is so boring now.. Ugly Betty has one left this week, and that's it for my scripted shows. Top Model and Survivor come back in February. I have started watching Dance War, which is alright if over the top. But I hear the DGA just struck a deal, so perhaps there's hope yet?

Alright, I better go be productive now.

SO. Well. I can't tell you how glad I am I stayed up late and finished my fic for Secret Sheriff before tonight's Robin Hood finale. Wow did that fic end up being totally AU. But that's okay, I figured it would be (just not so much!).

I am so glad I had Megan over while watching it! She didn't watch but was a sounding board for my mini rants, raves, and speculations.

( I *think* I liked the episode... )

Well yesterday was "finally" day for me. I got my act together and I finally...

Fixed my Safari problem that had been bugging the crap out of me

Called my doctor about some paperwork

Called DirecTV about the problem that wasn't fixed before

Emailed to follow up about a website problem

Went to AAA

Wrapped my friends' Christmas presents

Finished my secretsheriff story (read it here)

It's also been a week of movies! My family watched Ocean's 13 on Christmas. That was... well, much better than 12, but still confusing. And I watched Hairspray - omg that is so cute!! I love "You Can't Stop The Beat" and my crush on Zac Efron is renewed. (Shut up.) Thursday we went and saw another Allison Janney flick, Juno. Wow, that was good. Amazing characters, so much good writing. It was almost like it was written by Sorkin, if he knew that much about music.

Today we brave Costco for New Year's Eve shopping before the game tonight, but right now I have to keep myself off LJ until I get the Robin Hood finale. Eee, can't wait!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas (or just a happy Tuesday). We are having a quiet day, just my parents and I, no special plans. (We went to my uncle's on Sunday, and are seeing extended family next Sunday.) We had just the right size Christmas - not overloaded with stuff we didn't need, and a few nice things we did. My dad loves his pepper grinder, my mom wants to watch her DVDs, and I received some very nice jewelry from my dad and my sister.

I'm probably going to kick the ball around for a little while (it's actually above 50 today; shut up, I'm a wimp) and later watch "In Excelsis Deo" (I lent my S2 DVDs out to a friend, so sadly, no "Noel") and, what is becoming my favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually. And some time soon I need to find inspiration for my secretsheriff gift.

Wishing everyone a joyous day!

I like it when my biggest dilemma today (so far) is thinking, "My snowflake earrings are gold, my snowflake necklace is silver... which do I go with?!"

I think the part of the holiday season just before Christmas is nicest. It tends to be somewhat calm. People are out of work or school, there are parties to go to, you can stay home and relax and watch tv or movies.. that is, if you're not hosting the party, still shopping, or traveling. Then it's not so calm! But my family isn't doing that this year. We are going to my aunt and uncle's some time, but hopefully the crazy traffic will be over. I am hosting the New Year's party this year, but that's a week away. And I only have one gift to get on Monday, and I'm not worried about it. :)

Saw Sweeney Todd last night. (My friend's insistance, it's her favorite musical.) It was... good... in a morbid way. The cinematography was terrific, as was the singing and the plot. But even with the blood being very stylized, it was still gross. But a good time was had by all.

No soccer practice this week or next. Aah, I'm going to go through withdrawal! It better not rain too much, I'll want to practice outside, but it is still damn cold out. Too bad it gets warmer when the rains come (which is rarely), or we really could have snow. I'll be glad to go to Arizona next month, where it's warm!

Alright, better go get ready for a dinner party. For the record, I went with the silver necklace and some crystal drop earrings. :) 'Ta!

I have all these beautiful Christmas/winter icons I collected to use, and here I am not using them, so I better update more so I can use them!

Yesterday was a bad news day. Seems like it was that way for a lot of people on my flist. {{hugs all}} One of my good friend's grandmother passed away, one of my teammate's grandmother passed away, and two of my friends separated. :( I hope everyone is feeling better soon.

Let's see, not much is going on with me. I'm still waiting for my fingerprints to clear so I can work at the high school, but for now I'm working on a project for them at home and I'll get paid the contractor rate for that. I don't think I realized how much I missed programming. :) I like staying up late working on a particular piece. However, I don't miss the frustrations of NOT KNOWING WHY IT DOESN'T WORK. Okay, I feel better.

I am almost done Christmas shopping!! I basically have one friend left to shop for (he knows he's a difficult buy :P), but I'd like to get a few others something little as well. All my family is done and mailed, my mom is done, and I still need one more thing for my dad. He's getting himself a Garmin, so we just need something small.

( Look who decided to plop himself down as a present! )

That's really about it. Less than a month till the Arizona tournament!!!! And I get to see my family! Yay! :)

Dear LJ,

I'm sorry I've been away so long. I mean to write more, really... I love you!

~Me


Dear Cold,

You made me miss two meetings. No love for you.

~Stuffy


Dear Rain,

Welcome!!! OMG it seems like we are the last area in the country to see you but we need you! Stay!!

~NorCal Res


Dear FBI,

If you could approve my fingerprints, that'd be nice, kthxbye.

~ Pending


Dear Power Soccer,

What's with all the lying and the drama. Sigh. Let's just get on the court and play.

~ Newbie

You might hear about a pretty good sized earthquake located north of San Jose. (Link here.) Uh, yeah, that would basically be my backyard. Kinda funny, since recent reports have been how one of the faults was over-due for a large earthquake. Well if 5.6 is large and leaves my house/my family intact, I'll take it. But after 15 seconds of shaking, you get a little freaked out.

Well, some reports have it on the wrong fault, some reports have it on the "right" fault.

Anyway: "We're all fine, here, thanks, how are you?"

I PASSED! I pased the CBEST with flying colors. Whew! I can now apply to be a substitute teacher. Yay!

My soccer team is having some drama right now. And it's not just politics, it will affect the way we play. Ah, drama... certainly makes life interesting.

I gave up on Back To You, that show was just lame. But I'm really liking Gossip Girl and Dirty Sexy Money. And I'm finally discovering what the rest of you knew long ago - 30 Rock is pretty funny. Despite my dislike of Tracy Morgan, I like the show. I'm waiting for the third disc to arrive from Netflix this week, so I haven't seen any of this season yet.

I'm having some weird arm problems... seeing a doctor for something different tomorrow anyway, so I'll mention it and see what's up.

There's no baseball on tv for two days. Two days! And there's no football tomorrow!

bgirlla, thanks for checking in from LA, glad you're not affected. I should email my brother, make sure he's okay... and my cousin too...

Chris Pine and Karl Urban join Star Trek

Really? Urban as McCoy?? Chris Pine as Kirk, wow!! He kinda looks a little like the role, but wow he's young! And kind of hot, but not the point. Still bizarre. This cast... making for a strange movie...

In other strange news, David Ortiz just scored from 1st and Manny Ramirez is now at first. Why is nobody surprised.