1: I joined jerkfacebook the other day. I did this solely to facilitate the second thing.
2: I contacted my brother. It's been ten years since I cut his father out of my life. I'm finding it hard to explain to him what happened without being honest about how terrible his father was to me and to my mother. He just asked for details...


Also, thanks to xmas and my birthday, I have a ludicrous amount of portable electronics. Please don't steal my purse or my makeshift laptop bag.

Gadgetz. I haz them.

Is I Love Katamari crashing on anyone else in the last level? So obnoxious. Also, my iphone (Santa loves me) is a light saber. Watch it!

So...I have this dog bite on my ankle that has been sloooowly healing for almost two months. It was about an inch long and pretty deep. Deep enough that it had to be held closed at all times. It took ages to get the the sides to touch so it could finally heal all the way. For about a week, there's been a strange little hole right below the fresh scar. This hole would occasionally ooze a little, typically after a shower. No real signs of infection or anything. I was just messing with it a little because I rubbed my other foot against it and guess what came out of that strange little hole. A piece of grass. Bright green. Saint Augustine to be specific. I pulled a piece of grass out of my ankle. Um...I guess my body has been working pretty hard at pushing out that piece of foliage. I thought I did a good job of cleaning the wound, but clearly, I did not. Grass. Perhaps it will finally finish healing.

Lame.

I can't wait to weird the boy out with my little souvenir.

Has anyone tried this? I have a gajillion things stained by nosebleeds and I think I might now have the solution. Perhaps?

Q: A bloody nose left a stain on my son's mattress; can the stain be removed?

A: Put hydrogen peroxide on the stain, then sprinkle with unseasoned meat tenderizer. The meat tenderizer dissolves and digests the proteins in the blood. Blot the area with cold water after the stain is removed.

It's been a while. This is the first time I've read el jay in quite some time. All this free time and no posts. I'm not sure why, either. Well, Pokémon and Guitar Hero do provide excellent distractions. The boy (one year, ftw) does, too.

Sorry for going missing and ignoring everyone.

Nothing else has really been going on, other than looking for a decent job. Yeah, that's a blast.

Oh, I did get off of my meds. They helped me when I really needed them, but I became so complacent and stuck in my shadow of a life. I used The Road Back as my guide and it was a great help. I didn't follow it exactly, but it really did make a huge difference in how I felt during withdrawal from Effexor and Topamax. I'm confident that this is the right choice and I know that I have to be really careful about dealing with any changes in my mental state. I'm not alone in this anymore, so I think I'll be ok.

About Pokémon, are any of you playing Diamond or Pearl? Give me your friend code and I'll give you mine. Battling and flag-stealing will ensue! Also, trading. I know I'm not the only person over the age of 12 to get hooked on this.

Hold up on the congrats or whatever, because we're not there yet. We're just talking about the rings because we're both kinda clueless about where to turn. I'm not into diamonds, so 98 percent of all the advice available doesn't seem to apply. I'm thinking a pearl or sapphire in white gold, platinum or even steel.

Basically, I'd like some input from those in the know on:

• Reputable jewelers around Dallas or online
• Getting jewelry custom-made from an artist or jeweler
• What is the deal with "ring sets" and do I really need an engagement ring and wedding band?

Thanks in advance, from both of us, for any insight offered here.



Does anyone else find wedding magazines a little frightening?

Well, I'm free from Komen now. The manager that was torturing me for over a year was finally able to fire me today. I'm furious, but I'm trying to focus on the upside. It's hard right now because I really cared about everything I put into my job and my co-workers. Eleven days short of my fourth year of being a full-time employee. Bastards. That HR department did nothing real to help me while I went through everything.

On to better things, even if it's just not dreading going to work every morning.

Work and life have kept me away from eljay land. Work is at an impasse. Life is very good. Mr. Man and I are doing well. <3 I'm trying to battle through some mysterious bug that has me coughing, running a fever, and blowing through boxes of tissues. That really sucks and I hope my doc can get me in tomorrow morning.

I'm still trying to catch up on everything I've missed while I was away. It looks as if that might take a little while.

This photo is really tiny, but it's all I have to show for my costume, so...here you go. :D

There's a second, closer shot if you click through to my flickr page. I actually did an awesome job on the makeup, but it doesn't come across very well in the photos. People were scared and startled all day. heh

I lost the office constest to a girl dressed up as a banana. Grrrrr... Office zombie mad...

I freaking love my boyfriend! He's the best and we're really good for each other. :) I love him even though he's never seen Nightmare Before Christmas. heh I texted a couple friends this weekend to find out if we had missed out on that meet-up because I thought it might be a nice chance for him to meet several of my friends in a relatively simple way. We missed out on it, but I'll have to figure out some other way to make it happen that doesn't involve bars or clubs.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was an amazing treat. It was really just achingly beautiful and so rich. I am so going to buy that the second I can get my dainty little nubbins on it! Mr. Man loved it, as well. We're both big Western fans and we couldn't love it more.

 Ok, I think I'm going to go with Wordpress for my craft blog. I've also decided on a name and I'm about to pick a hosting service. I'm hoping to get it up and running fairly soon because I have things I'd like to discuss there and here. I'm a busy bee at work, like many of you, so I've been shuffling things around quite a bit. I'll let you know about Austin later, I promise. I kind of love that town. :D

My meds make me somewhat dizzy if I'm at the computer too long, so it's pretty much an everyday occurrence. During the afternoon, just for a little while, I'll feel like the space between the monitor and me is fluctuating. I mostly enjoy this feeling, but when I start feeling like I'm moving in different directions and arcs, it becomes too intense. I have to turn away and focus on something close to me or put my head on the desk. It never takes more than twenty or thirty seconds to reset my mind from my little mini-hallucinations, but they are strange.

Ok, now that I've confirmed my membership in the weirdo club, I'm going to go get some coffee.

Come on 5pm! I get to spend a couple hours with my man and then my mom and sister are going to pick me up and we'll be on the way to Austin. The three of us are going to Maker Faire this weekend and I can't wait! It's going to be so great! Gah! I know; I'm a nerd. :D

The boy has been out of town for a few days and I need to be in his arms for a few hours. Need.

Also: Go Tribe!

 Well, work is work, but it's not too bad. It's really much better than I thought it would be and I really am responding well to having the structure and routine back in my life. October is a good month to be here, too, because of all the breast cancer awareness events taking place. We had a week-long Passionately Pink for the Cure fundraiser that felt a little like spirit week did in high school, but only in the best way. Almost everyone here participated and we all had a good time with it. I did, however, exhaust my tolerance for wearing pink, at least until the end of the month.

I'm going to start a blog for all of my craft-related postings, but I don't know which service I want to use? Any recommendations other than LJ? I'd really like to keep my personal life separate from the crafty stuff and this is something I've been wanting to do for quite a while now. Any name suggestions would be great, too. ;)

I have an idea for my Halloween costume, but it involves something drastic...
 

I know I said it would never happen, but I had to put this journal under lock-down. This is only temporary and is just to make sure all of my bases are covered. I absolutely hate having to do this, but it might be in my best interest at this point.