What a Good Day

I know, I know.. I'm sorely slacking on the writing thing...  I suck.  I write more when I am not under a 'deadline,' I guess.  However, I wanted to give a big sigh of relief by posting publicly that I have had a pretty good couple of days!

I spent the majority of Sunday in the library, filling out job applications for the husband, while he was home.  Doing nothing, I might add.  Didn't touch a dish in the sink; didn't take anything out for dinner; zip, zero, zilch, NADA!  I knew he wouldn't, but it still irked me.  He had the day off because the Moble Unit he mans for the local police department had broken down.  So he wasn't needed.

It started off crazy.  I honestly don't know why.  The night before was pretty nice.  But at 5AM, when he would normally go to work, he got up, showered and proceeded to B!+C# about how he couldn't find things that he swore he put away.  He stomped around like a child for almost an hour.  Mind you, it's Five in the Frickin' Morning!!!!  I didn't have to wake up early, so I was up late watching my LockUp marathon on MSNBC....  I'm not a morning person to begin with, but that was just horrific!

I still had not found my wedding ring, and I was pretty upset by it.  Anyway, by the time the library opened, I couldn't wait to get out of the house. 

When I got home, things were much, much, MUCH calmer.  I'm thinking he had a good nap.  But that's me.  We watched Kick Ass (which was quite good) and ate Pizza (which was also quite good).  Not long after, we called it a night.  He had to get up at 4 this morning for another shift.

I happened to be in the bathroom, drying my hands and face, when I had an epiphany.   I wondered if maybe I had lost my ring when I was doing the exact same thing the night it was lost.  It's always loose by that time of day, so I try to take special care to keep it on...  but maybe...   I looked behind the toilet, in the garbage, in the toilet scrubber doohickey... Nothing. 

As a fluke, I lifted up the bathmat.  Then the mat that sits under the toilet.  My heart sunk. It wasn't there.  Maybe I was wrong.  Until I leaned down to straighten it out and caught a flash in the corner of my eye.  MY RING!  I was absolutely thrilled!  I leaned down and plucked it out of the cotton loops that make up our mats and felt complete again.  I knew it was going to be a good week.

So, since I'm rambling already, may as well keep going, right?

I got up at 4 with the hubs, so that I could take the car for the day.  And I am thankful I did!  I had a first interview for a position last Friday, and got the call back for a second interview that afternoon.  In my head, I was sure it was scheduled for Wednesday, the 10th.  On the way home, I listened to the call, just to be sure.  Nope, I was wrong.  It was scheduled at 10.  TODAY!

I went home, but couldn't fall right back to sleep.  I was already awake, and quite excited/nervous for the interview.  I did finally get a little rest, but jumped up at 8AM to get ready and go.

Long story short, (I know, too late for that), THEY HIRED ME!!!!  I took the drug test this afternoon, filled out some online 'paperwork,' and now I just wait to make sure the background check comes back fine.  It should... but you never know!  =)  I'm very excited and I hope that by Friday I'm able to tell you that I am officially employed!

Whew...  that was quite the rant.   SORRY!!!!   I hope you will forgive me.  =)  It's going to be a good week.  It's just got to be!

I Have Not Forgotten NaBloPoMo

Unfortunately, I do not have internet access at my home.  I do, however, have a computer and flash drive, which I have dutifully loaded all of my posts onto.  That being said, I'm a bit of a ditz sometimes and I have left the drive in my backpack, at home. 

Things have been busy around the house this week.  I wish it were fictional, as to fit in with the NaBloPoMo theme for August, but it is not.

 My husband celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, so we took a whirlwind trip down to Miami.  It was fantastic, but the drive home on Wednesday took absolutely forever!  We were exhausted!

I had an interview yesterday, which went pretty well.  Last night, we celebrated my call-back for a second interview.  I met him at a local watering hole, had a couple drinks and got some dinner.  It was relatively calm, but for some reason, I woke up this morning without my wedding ring on.  I have searched EVERYWHERE!  But to no avail.  I feel sick to my stomach about it.  I am praying to all of the saints that it didn't fall off in my pool when I went swimming.  It always gets just a bit loose later in the day...  So, I'm going to have to go home and continue my search.  My engagement ring made it's way back to the ringbox, so I have to believe that my wedding ring is SOMEWHERE in the house...   I just have to!

Writing about it has made me feel a tad better... but not much.  I really need to find it.  I feel naked without it!!!

So, that has been my week.  I'm hoping that next week fairs better.  Wish me luck!

August NaBloPoMo - Subject: Fiction

I'm going to try it again...  I have nothing better to do while I look for work, so why not write, right?

I have tried to write a post per day in the past, and have failed miserably, but with a subject like 'Fiction,' I thought I may give it another go! 

A while back, I won a blog giveaway and the prize was a copy of 'The 3 A.M. Epiphany' - which I had never heard of, nor ever thought of using... However, once I received it, I was intrigued!  I have always been a fan of journal writing, and have written a few short stories here and there (in High School and College!), and the excercises in the book piqued my interest again.  I figure that now would be a great time to dig it out of my piles of books (that I never get around to reading), blow the dust off the cover, and delve in.

Who knows?  Maybe it will light a fire under my butt for NaNoWriMo!!!!  =)

Procrastination be Thy Name

I used to jokingly call myself "The Queen of Procrastination."  I would put things off until the last minute - school work and such - yet I would always do well.  My mother would say, "Now, imagine how much better you would have done if you started (project name here) when it was assigned.  Or even a week ago!"

 I would smile and wave it off.  Why fix what isn't broken?  Well, fast forward 15 years and I am still the Queen, and I hate it.  I have no reason to put things off, and logically, I know that.  But it never fails - I will make a list and something will be pushed 'until later' four or five or a hundred times - for absolutely no reason other than I jut don't want to do it.  Is that lazy?  Probably.  But I don't consider myself to be a lazy person. In fact, I am pretty productive... when I want to be.  ::Smirk::

I just find that there are little things that aren't all that important in the long run.  I have the 'don't sweat the small stuff - and it's all small stuff' mentality. 

Any good ideas out there on how to give myself a good swift kick in the ass?  Thanks!  I would really appreciate that!

Not in the Mood

Today is a critical day.  I am not in the mood to write.  Not a single word.  But I will not let that stop me!

Sure, the post will be less than stellar, but I know that if I skip today I will guarantee the following:

• I will disappoint myself and my goal for 30 posts in 30 days;
• I will be less likely to write again tomorrow - whether or not I'm in the mood;
• I will probably lose focus and not even visit the NaNoBloMo website to visit other blogs.

I don't want that, as I have made it so much farther than in previous attempts.  (Well, there have only been two - but they were valiant efforts!)


I don't have much time left at work, which is great.  I have to stop at the library on my way home to return some DVDs, but that shouldn't take all that long - I hope.  Maybe I'll pick up one or two for fun.  At the moment, all I want to do right now is go home, make dinner and read a bit before going to bed.  I have a strange feeling that my husband isn't happy with me.  I haven't spoken to him all day, but when I just tried to call him, his phone was down.  (We are waiting on some money to come in before we can pay it.)

I could be overreacting - it's not something I am unaccustomed to doing, but I hate that feeling.  It makes me unhappy.. Now that I think of it, that's probably the reason I have no desire to write today.  Huh... Whoulda thunk it?  I guess now I just need to get off this pity party train and BE HAPPY!  I can't let one person bring me down - even if it's my hubby!  I guess writing today was a good idea!

Demise of the Machine

It was not the best computer.  It wasn’t even the second, third or fourth best computer.  But it was my computer.  The computer I got when I first moved up to Daytona – for him.  It was payment for a voiceover gig I had gotten for a German bread company back about 5 years ago.  At the time, it had everything I needed for a voiceover recording, and for playing my World of Warcraft.  Sad, I know.

I had enough memory for the video I needed to put my voice over, the software to record my voice, and the video card to play both the game and the Bread video.  I loved it.   I took good care of it.  I upgraded it when needed and made it my own.  I gave it a second monitor –a wide screen job with (almost) HD quality.  I kept its RAM free by adding external hard drives to keep the large (and important) files from jamming up its processors.  I even dusted the inside every now and again, since I had dogs, and rugs, that brought in hair, dust, dander and the like.

It got operating software upgrades from Window 97, to XP to Vista to Windows 7.  Even when I had to figure out the Windows XP partition of the Win7 software – I was there.  Through video cards and web cams; Soundcards and Skype - I did everything I could to keep it in working order.

Yes, it had begun to run slow.  I purchased some extra memory for it, but that was just not enough.  However, it had been there for me, and I was loyal.  I spent many afternoons and evenings on my little HP; Checking my social networking page of the moment, my tweets, my Guild’s inbox and my Outlook calendar.  I enjoyed those times…

Little did I know that HE would be the demise of such a reliable and sturdy machine. 

Over the years, my little HP had moved with me to three apartments and a house, surviving each move – and probably gaining more with every change.  It would be the last house, nay – home, that would end its mechanical life.

Over the three years my now husband and I have had our home, the computer has been an area of contention.  I will admit that I am a computer nerd.  I was the gamer – Sims, Everquest, WoW, FaceBook games, you name it, I loved it – still do! I was even one of the first group of members of the XBox GamerChix!  However, our computer was in a spare room, which we used as a home office.  Hubby had his ‘media room’ with the flat screen, the cable, the video game consoles (The 360, GameCube and Wii) and his comic book collection.  We were happy.

Until the roommate moved in and took over his Media room.  (We discussed it – It wasn’t just me taking over – I swear!)

There were a lot of arguments and fights throughout the time we had a roommate.  I learned to accept it, but I never realized that part of my demeanor had either provoked or dragged the fights on.  I’m a Scorpio – what can I say?  I’m stubborn!  We would argue about little or nothing, for the most part.  I would apologize, he wouldn’t accept it but would soon apologize to me.  (I still don’t understand all THAT logic…) 

But one night, in particular, he got VERY angry with me.  We had words in the bedroom and he slept on the sofa.  Not much different from other nights, but I probably pushed a little too hard.

I woke up and went to the office to check my email and… no computer.

I looked all around, and let it go.  I went about my business and acted like it did not bother me (which it did – horribly!).  I went to work, didn’t fight him or bring it up, and came home –to my computer.  It was not hooked up, of course (he doesn’t know how to do that, God bless him), but it was there.

So the second time we fought and the computer was missing, I let go.  I assumed (Stupid idea) that it would be the same deal – go about my day, don’t argue with him, and the computer would ‘mysteriously’ return.  Nope. No go.

He kept his silence for much longer this time, despite my smart remarks and anger.  I know that I was NOT the angel in this situation, but I was acting like it at the time…   A few days later, after his anger subsided long enough (and the sofa got too much for his back)to speak with me, he told me that he had tossed my little HP into a pond outside our local Target. 

I didn’t believe him at first.  I couldn’t believe that he would just toss something worth that much money into a pond.  I didn’t think he could get anywhere without our car – to which I had the key.  I knew that, in the past, he had never come up with such an elaborate story (and yes, it was elaborate to his standards) .  But as days went on, and the computer didn’t appear as it usually had, I wondered.

A bit over a week went by.  No HP.  Until I got home one day.  I saw it and thanked him, not for returning it, but for not throwing it away. 

We went out for dinner that night, and I guess he wasn’t happy with the conversation and we fought.  It continued until we got home and the computer that had been so graciously saved, took a header into our pool.  In the middle of summer.

Oh, I was not happy. 

The rest of the night, though not a blur, is something that needs not be written about.

But jump to two months later, and you will find an husband and wife whose communication is probably close to 100% better than before ‘the dive.’  We watch movies together, talk about our days (though I would like that to be better), and just have a good time.  I like that, and didn’t realize that it had been missing until ‘the dive.’

NaNoBloMo Day 15: Midway Point

I may not be where I want to be with this being the halfway point of NaNoBloMo, but I am in a *much* better position than I was at this time last year! I think that is a huge step in the right direction, if I do say so myself!

Today will be my 15th post to this blog - which I cannot say I had expected to do.  I have another blog over on the Wordpress.com platform, which I had intended to be my 'main' NaNoBloMo blog.  I have kept up on that one, as well (again - WAY more than I had thought I would do).  Surprisingly, I have learned a little about where I would like each blog to go - though I cannot say that it is fairly represented here.  This blog had been created so that I could ramble about just about anything that crossed my mind.  That part is probably pretty obvious, but I would like to make it a bit more about life in general.  Not necessarily *my* life. 

My money blog  - Work the Steps is more about my family life, and our desire to get out of debt and what we have to do to get there.  I have learned that I cannot write an effective post if I am trying to separate my personal life from my monetary life.  It just doesn't work.

I did (do) want to hit more blogs that are also participating in NaNoBloMo.  I did alright for the first week or so, in an effort to see what is out there and maybe generate some of my own web traffic, but it has not gone well.  I averaged 5 comments a day for at least a week, yet I have had little to no reciprocation.  It hasn't knocked me down, as I do not have a very strong blog yet - but it has disappointed me a little.  I have always been an advocate for the blogosphere.  I know that there is a unity, but I don't know where it went!  Heh.. maybe they are all just too busy doing the same thing this month.  Could be! 

So, there I am on Day 15.  And I am looking forward to seeing what the next fifteen bring. 

We'll Be Okay

We’ll be okay.

Today was an early day.  I think it was about 7:13 am when the dogs started barking to go outside.  It’s funny – they don’t do that when they sleep in our room.  Anyway, Beans decided she wanted out, and the whole house was going to know it.  I volunteered to go get them, and let my husband sleep.  I figured, I could run downstairs, let the dogs out, and get back up and into bed before I officially woke up. 

Unfortunately, I guess my kindness was misunderstood because when I got up stairs, the husband had the idea to give all four dogs a bath.  So much for getting a few more minutes of rest…

So, to be a good wife, I decided that since he is taking care of the dogs, I would take care of him and make breakfast.  Pancakes, grits and Cuban coffee.  Not exactly the dish I would have liked, but it’s what we had.  I don’t care much for grits, and I was afraid they would be absolutely disgusting without butter, but it turns out that a little salt and some maple syrup do wonders! 

By 9am we were on a roll with the cleaning – as was the plan.  I think we did a little something in each and every room we have – Florida room and yard included! 

It is now almost 6pm and I am on my last legs.  I drank two energy drinks throughout the day, and that was probably my demise.  I hope to make it to dinner…  The soup is on, so at least I have that going for me. 

We have yet to find the missing items from Friday night.  (We are missing an ID, a debit card and $20.  I am really frustrated by that, because I can picture every moment from that night, yet I cannot figure out where any of it was lost.  I assume they fell out of my pocket, but it could only have happened in one place – and they didn’t find it…   sigh.

I can only hope that I happened to put everything in a place where I wouldn’t lose them – and then forgot where that was.  It wouldn’t be the first time.

Tomorrow begins another week.  Thankfully, next week is only three days.  I could use the vacation, and my husband will be working some shifts, since we can use the money.  It will be a nice, peaceful Thanksgiving.  I am very much looking forward to it.

Until then, I will trudge along through the week and continue my search for more income.  As I do every week. 

Failure Never Feels Good

It’s official.  NaNoWriMo is going to be a wash for another year.  I had it all worked out – word goals broken out by weeks and days, time scheduled where I would be alone with nothing but myself, my laptop and a cup of coffee – be it at the local Panera (where other NaNoWriMo participants spend their Sunday mornings), or in my back yard, and the desire to create something.  Anything.  What was missing?

A story. 

Yep.  I have no idea what I want to write.  I just know that I want to write something.  I always have, now that I think about it.  Yet the storyline eludes me.  I want it to be unique, special, but I can’t think of anything other than the same old story we see in just about every movie and in every book.  Love, loss, redemption – they’re all overdone.  The only hope we have is to put our own personal twist into it. 

I have tried to start with a character.  Just one – and make that character come to life in my mind.  Give him or her a story all their own by explaining what made them come to be.  What events gave them the characteristics they have and why they are where they are.  But rather than focus on the one, I tend to get ahead of myself and begin other  projects.  I don’t have ADD or anything – but I feel like if I don’t switch around, I never will. 

I was lucky enough to win a blog contest a while back, and the prize was a copy of The 3 A.M. Epiphany – which is a fantastic collection of writing exercises all put together in one book.  I think that I may finally break it out and actually use it.  Foreign concept, right?  I know!

Once a week, I could pick an exercise and work it into my blog as a special post.  Just to see what happens.  Maybe, just a possibility, by next year – I could be in a much better position to begin NaNoWriMo and, dare I say it – Finish it???

Until then…  One can only hope!

Friday. Overrated?

Probably.  Okay, it's the last day of the work week, and you can stay up (or out) later than you would from Sunday to Thursday, but what is the real draw to Friday?

Is it the idea of the weekend?  The mystery of not knowing what might happen?  The unpredictability of not having a set routine (or constraints) that you have Monday through Friday?

For me, Friday is all about relaxing.  It's like the beginning of a mini-vacation, at home.  I guess the buzz word is now 'stay cation' but I hate that term and prefer not to use it.  Well, hate may be a strong word.  I strongly dislike it. How's that for you?

It's day 12 of NaNoBloMo.  I am posting daily - but at what cost?  ::Insert Smiley Here::  I haven't written anything of real value - though I do think I will go back eventually and rewrite a few things here and there.  So I do have a couple of good jumping off points.  I think my post on Monday will be a summary.  Yeah, a mid-month review of how things are going and where I want to be.

In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my Friday and roll with the punches.  Hasta la vista!

Happy Veterans Day!

Thank you!

Have you Heard? Florida SUCKS!

Our Tax Dollars at Work

Besides being close to bankruptcy and having some serious whackjobs in offices around the Central Florida area - the State Agencies are the hardest SOBs to get any information from! 

Okay, so I may be posting this more emotionally than rationally, but really?  I think that most government workers have either been lobotomized, or ate paint chips as children.  Lots and lots of paint chips.  The lead based ones.  Not the fancy acrylic they have nowadays.

I am doing my best to understand a few things that I have seen over the past couple of months.  The first is the reasoning behind Unemployment.  Not the fundamentals, but the logic behind who gets it and who does not.  Why give it to someone who is perfectly capable of finding a job, but doesn't want to get off the sofa because he makes more money sitting on his rump?  Why deny the person who is going to school to better himself while looking for work (part time or otherwise) to help pay bills?  I don't know if this is just a Florida thing, but the fact that it goes on at all just makes me ill.  Mentally and physically!

The second is Food Stamps.  These people make applicants jump through hoops, do lots of paperwork and then give a family $16 A MONTH??  Seriously - $16 a month for food.  No joke.  Sounds like one though, doesn't it?  Well, I guess that will be enough to make Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches for lunch every day.  Well, till the bread runs out.  That just seems like a lot of time and man hours wasted for such a minimal amount of money to be distributed.  I'm sure the person who approved such a total had to have laughed - even if it was just on the inside. 

Maybe I'm in the wrong field.  Maybe I should be the one giggling at others' misfortunes.  Maybe I should hand over hundreds of dollars to people so that they don't want to find work.  Sigh... 

What a Fantastic Weekend

I will say, that even though it was my birthday, I had a great time!

We did go to the Halifax Art Festival - which was a lot of fun.  The weather was beautiful - almost chilly, cloudless and crisp.  There were dogs everywhere, which made me wish we had brought one of our dogs.  Unfortunately, they would probably lay down ever thirty steps...  However, they would definitely be some of the cutest there!  I didn't see ONE Basset or Bull!  I was rather surprised.

We enjoyed a movie about 13 foot land sloths, 9 foot armadillos, and the wars and bloodshed that took place in the Daytona area throughout history.  It was interesting to learn a little about where our street names came from, what some buildings used to be, and the like.  I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Anyway, that was Saturday. 

Sunday, we picked up a 3 foot Monitor Lizard from a friend of mine.  Lizard-sitting is uninteresting, to say the least.  However, it's cold, and he (Dino) is quite lethargic in such weather.  I think we may have to find an electric blanket to warm him up and get him a little more active!

And now, the countdown to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 begins...  

My Own Grand-pa

It's Friday. Well, it is right now as I write. You are reading this on Sunday. Or at least, you should be. Yesterday was my birthday (Saturday, not Thursday) and I'm hoping I did something fun!

It's also Homecoming weekend at THE U! And I'm quite sad to be missing it - again. I miss my friends, the football games, the band, my Sorority brothers and sisters (yes, we were a co-ed sorority. It was an honor sorority - not social. But we did know how to party!), and even the campus! I have missed out on Homecoming weekend for one reason or another for years. I think I have been to maybe 3. Sigh.

Anyway, we just don't have the cash to drive to Miami and hang out. So, again, I will watch the game on television, wearing my Hurricanes jersey and reminiscing.

However! A sorority brother of mine lives up here, too! He isn't going either, and may come into town to visit. That could be fun! My husband and I are going to go to the local art festival, so he and his wife may meet us there. I'm looking forward to it! I also think it's neat because it will be my birthday and all. I like to remember that he bought me my first cold and frosty beverage on my 21st birthday! A margarita. Which is funny, because I am not a margarita drinker. But it was delicious on that day!

Super Heroes Rock!

I posted this on another blog on April 8th, 2009. The anniversary of the date my now husband proposed to me! =) So now, I am re-posting it for NaNoBloMo on my birthday!

Aaaaannnd.... Begin.

I know you have done this:

You watch a movie or tv show – a’la X-Men, Spider-Man, Heroes, and the like; You see a cool/funny move (like when Peter Parker tries to figure out how to get the web to fly out of his wrists); You walk into the next room and say something like, “Hey Babe! I’m a web-spinner!” and you flick your wrist like you saw on the movie. More than likely, your friend or significant other cocked their head and looked at you with a kind of blank face. Well, unless they are also comic book geeks.. =)

Anyway, I have had more than one of these episodes occur in my home over the past few years, so I know what you’re feeling! And so, I am using that fodder to give you an insight onto which Super Hero powers I would love to have – be it all at one time, or grouped together to make me INVINCIBLE! ::Insert generic evil laugh here::

1. Time Travel – This isn’t all that exciting, but I love history. I wasn’t all that great in my history classes, but I would love to live for a month or so in the Dark Ages, during the Italian Renaissance, and maybe even during the Ice Age… But that would take way more research!
2. Weather Control – Okay, it’s not your run-of-the-mill power, but watching Storm do some crazy stuff in the X-Men flicks really pushed me in that direction. It would be pretty badass to be able to strike something with lightning, or blow down an evil building!
3. I had Water Control as my number three, but I think I am going to replace that with Flying. I am not one for heights, but when you think of it, if you can fly – you don’t need to be that high off the ground! Besides, if you have flight as an ability, do you really need to fear falling?
4. Shape Shifting. I think I would like to be able to shape myself into different beings – rather than objects. Well, as long as I was able to mimic them perfectly. I wouldn’t want to look like another person, or a dog, without being able to exactly what they know how to do. It could cause some precarious situations.
5. Teleportation. My last superpower would be the ability to Teleport to anywhere of my choosing. Think ‘Jumper’ but with less work. He had to see where he was going beforehand. I don’t want to bother with that stuff. Show me a picture and I am there! MUCH easier!

So, there you have it. If I were to have any type of super power, these are my top five. And believe me, I had a pretty long list of what I would choose. These just happened to win out.

What about you? Let your inner geek out and tell me what you would choose for your top five!

Welcome NaBloPoMo!

Since it is now November 2nd, and I have yet to post anything on this blog, I thought that today would be a perfect beginning. Albeit a day late...

I think I am going to use this blog as a personal area where I can vent and be me, while my true NaBloPoMo posts can be found at my other blog. I think it will also be a good way to see all of the fine differences between Wordpress and Blogspot blogs. I am sure there are nuances to both that I will love, but who will win out?

A bit about me - I have tried over and over to blog. I get all excited about it, I post like crazy, and I peter out... I don't know why, but I get to a point where I don't feel like I want to write anything, or that anything I do want to write is interesting enough to be read. Yes, even by complete strangers.

This is my third attempt at 'Daria's Blog' and, as you may have guessed, my name is Daria. I tried on Wordpress.com, then hosted it as dariasblog.com and when I let that expire (stupid me), I tried to go back to the WP blog. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea what my login information is over there, and their 'customer service' won't even think about helping me. (Way to go!) I have ranted about that for quite a while now, but I figure I will eventually copy some of the posts over to here. We'll, see...

In the meantime, I will probably post bits and pieces of me throughout the month. If you have made it this far, and enjoy my writing, I invite you to comment. Even more importantly, I invite you to return. Enjoy the journey...