pictures

Monday

25 March 2013 / life, miscellany monday, pictures, ronni, to do

Every time I write an entry like I did last night, I get a bit apprehensive. I immediately want to take it back and apologize for being such a basket case. It’s taking everything in my power not to go and hide it right now. I can’t promise I won’t still do it.

I was just going through my photos on Flickr, and there is one from November 11, 2012, where I’m talking about how the weather feels like Spring. I remember that day. It was in the 70s and I got my last mani/pedi of the year. So, I’ll try not to complain about the cold lingering so much since the warmth obviously lingered for a while last fall. Not making any promises, mind you, but I’ll try.

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I went to bed about 1:30am, and I read until I fell asleep. But then I was up at 5:30am. The “non-working” medication I was complaining about last night finally kicked in apparently!

I do feel a lot better today.

Had an awesome phone call this morning with one of the freelance clients I’m working for. I really like this company and the work and the people I work with a lot. One of the reasons is that I get to use Track Changes in the things I’m editing, and guys…I really like using Track Changes. She asked if I’d be interested and available to take on more work as they go into their busy season. Um… YES and YES. I feel blessed when I get to do work I enjoy and get paid for it too.

So, it’s Monday, and here’s what’s on my plate this week:

01. projects for DSA 🙂
02. Moksha newsletter
03. babysit tomorrow morning
04. clean Aidan’s room (this is mostly Adam’s job but I’ll do the fiddly-diddly things that he misses)
05. buy “filler” and gifts for Aidan’s Easter basket
06. put away laundry and clean my side of the room
07. teacher training homework
08. possible onsite project for VSA Thursday morning
09. get Aidan from airport Thursday night (this means dinner at Pop’s beforehand. yummy!)
10. make Aidan’s Easter basket
11. buy a few Aidan-specific groceries

It’s a quiet week, so I should be able to do all of this without any trouble. Adam just went off to Ikea to get a new mattress. 🙂 That’s some good stuff. I’ve had the mattress we use now since 2006. I guess it’s time to replace it. We’re getting one with the individually wrapped springs so that when he tosses and turns, I don’t get thrown up to the ceiling.

Oh my God. Am I becoming boring? I just wrote a paragraph about mattresses. That means it’s time to sign off.

Till next time.

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Lately.

24 March 2013 / life, pictures, ronni, yoga

warning: this entry is not all sunshine and bubbles…i did a backbends workshop yesterday and the results of that are coming up now. cue emotional mess!

Lately, I’ve been feeling….

{overwhelmed}
I’m working on a big freelance project, and even though it’s not very HARD nor particularly time-consuming, it is tricky. And also tedious. And also seems to be never ending. But hey, more money is always good so….

AND I like the company a lot.

I haven’t even STARTED on the April newsletter for Moksha. I need to get on that soon–I have a week to work on it and get it approved. I mean, I can and will DO it, but it would’ve been easier if I’d started on it sooner. Cropping pictures without Photoshop is going to be interesting. I have Gimp but Gimp and I FIGHT. So God help me. I guess I can always use “Preview”.

And I have GOT to get this teacher training non-contact stuff done:

1. thesis (2–3 pages)
2. write up for private lessons (finally had my last one Friday night) (3 short paragraphs, 1 page)
3. book reviews (2)
4. study guide questions (1)

It’s not even that hard. I’m just a self-sabatoger. I seriously could have had most of this stuff done months ago. I suck.

But not for long. I’m going to sit down and knock it all out this–probably Tuesday and/or Wednesday. Then I’m just going to submit everything in a big zip file. And then April 26, I’ll be done with teacher training. And I’m going to make sure I tell them I’m celebrating that at Disney World!

{satisfied}
The place was a terrible mess, but it’s much better now. I still need to put my laundry away, but the good news is that it’s clean. I also need to clean my room a bit. The snacks and books have taken over my side again.

We redid the living room. We got rid of the blue couch that Helena attacked (read: pissed on) with full force within the first week we had it, and replaced it with two chairs. We also got a new rug. The chairs are super comfortable, and so far, Helena hasn’t done anything to the chairs but sleep on them or get her toys from under them to play with. Crookshanks is sleeping on one in this picture, though. See him? Now can you spot Fi? hint: Fi is not on a chair!

{worried}
Tax time is coming really fast. Enough said.
Also, I haven’t heard from one of my biggest clients on whether they’re going to use me this year. That is very nervous making. Without them, I will have to find another big client before summer ends.

{frustrated}
Because I’m a self-sabotager who self-sabotages. It sucks. I suck. 🙁

{insecure & dumb}
I go through this a lot. Those moments when I am convinced that everything I say is stupid, wrong, pointless, and no one cares so I should just take a seat and shut the hell up. I can barely get a sentence out without getting interrupted, but GOD FORBID I interrupt anyone. I feel like I’m constantly pissing people off and making them mad at me. I think people just put up with me because they haven’t anything better to do, that no one really likes me at all. Well, I think Adam likes me, but I know I get on his nerves, too. Hell, *I* get on my nerves. Here’s a sample of the self-talk that goes through my head:

1. Shut up, just shut up. You’re so stupid and NO ONE CARES.
2. I bet none of them really like you. They only put up with you because they have to.
3. OH MY GOD you are so dumb. Seriously, shut the hell up.
4. Look at your fat stomach. You’re disgusting. (This one usually happens when I’m trying on clothes in a fitting room at a store. It gets worse than that if I’m in a particular Victoria’s Secret fitting room with the video monitors that show the models strutting their stuff down the runway. I cannot and will not shop in that store anymore because of that. Other reasons too, but mainly that.)
5. Wow. You’re not good at anything, are you? I mean, you’re OK at some stuff, but you’re not extraordinary at anything. Pathetic.

And then I want to lock myself in the house and hide under the covers and spare the world from my presence. Except Twitter and Tumblr and my blog, apparently.

{sore}
I didn’t even take all of Jason Crandell’s workshop sessions, but the two I did take (one on back bending, one on forward folding, twisting, and side bends) were quite enough. I did do some poses I’ve never done before, and some I never want to do again! I even did Eka Pada Rajakapotasana II and Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana. I wasn’t even going to try Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana, but I did it and it was awesome. Way easier than Urdhva Dhanurasana… but we did do that one about ten times before Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana. Maybe ANYTHING seems easy after that. Anyway, I would love to soak in a steaming hot tub but the thought of driving out to King Spa tonight is not appealing. Because it’s freaking snowing and given the choice, I’d rather not drive in the snow. So I plan to go tomorrow night instead, after rush hour theoretically dies down. I’m sure I’ll still be sore enough to appreciate the spa pools.

{melancholy}
And it sucks when the medication that is supposed to be helping this doesn’t seem to be working.

{grateful}
I LOVE my babysitting gig. The little boy I get to watch is so super cute. I watched him for the first time last Tuesday afternoon. He slept for most of the time, but then he woke up and I went to get him. At first, he looked at me like WTF. But then I picked him up and held him and he just cuddled and cuddled and cuddled. I LIKE that. I miss the weight of a little one cuddling against me. I cuddle with Aidan, but Aidan’s all bones now. It hurts sometimes![1. Oh don’t get me wrong. I’ll still cuddle the hell out of some Aidan. As long as he’ll let me, at least!] One-year-old babies are soft and squishy. I can’t believe I get paid to cuddle a squishy little boy!

{excited}
Aidan is going to be here in a few days! I completely cleared my calendar so I can spend the entire Spring Break with him, despite the best efforts of the universe. I swear, every time I try to just… make space, a million people/clients/jobs suddenly need me for this or that. Most of the time, I go ahead and take it because well, money! But, this time, I’m setting some boundaries. It is always nice to make money, but I need to spend time with my boy.[2. I’ll work from home, of course. And if the babysitter calls, I’ll help her out. I can bring Aidan with me, which is AWESOME. Double the cuddles!!!!]

{tired}
I should head to bed soon. See if I can sleep away some of these blues.

Till next time….

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Magic Kingdom Revisited

22 March 2013 / disney, disney world, family, pictures, vacation, yay

Part One: Magic in the Magic Kingdom
Part Two: Animal Kingdom: I LOVE TODAY
Part Three: Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow
Part Four: Hooray For Hollywood–Studios, That Is!

On our last day at Disney World, Adam and I hit the Magic Kingdom. Our goal was to get there at Rope Drop, so that we could ride all the rides and attractions we couldn’t on Monday due to the crowds and the lines. It almost worked–we got there when the train rode into the station with all the characters. A little boy was walking in and the way his face lit up was amazing! And he hadn’t even seen the characters yet. It was fun to see.

Once we got in Magic Kingdom, I remembered WHY I love going at Rope Drop. That first hour when the Magic Kingdom is open really is magical. There’s all the singing and dancing, everyone is fresh and happy, and it just looks so shiny and new. Not to mention that it’s not crowded at all, and the rides are pretty much walk-on.

The first place we went was to get Fast Passes for the new ride: Under The Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. We were mildly disturbed when the Fast Pass return time was already 1:50pm. Had that many people already gotten Fast Passes? But the cast member said that the ride wouldn’t be open until 1pm.

Once we got those, we headed to Storybook Circus, where the wait times were delightfully short to meet Minnie, Daisy, Donald, and Goofy (who had a “light sabor” fight with Adam), and to ride the Barnstormer!

We made our way to Tomorrowland, where we hopped on Space Mountain, and then we headed to Adventureland, where I got a Dole Float with pineapple juice and orange soft serve. It was a delicious breakfast! Then we rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and then made our way to meet Adam’s mom Sharon, his sister Cassidy, and our niece Lola! 🙂

They’d called the day before with a crazy idea to drive up from Atlanta and spend the day in the Magic Kingdom with us. AND THEY DID IT. Awesome, huh?

We made our way to the Hub to get Fast Passes so Lola could meet the princesses later. Then we made our way back down Main Street, U.S.A. There was singing and dancing and good times. Lola was cranky and didn’t like it.

Then we looked through a few shops and drooled over the sweets at the confectionary.

We walked around and hung out and ate a delicious lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern. Oh man, it was soooo good. See how happy we were?

We watched a bit of the castle show, and this was Lola’s face when the princesses came out:

By now, it was time to go meet the princesses! Lola was SOOO cute, you guys. She had so much fun, in her little princess dress and big smile.

She got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, and Rapunzel. THEN, we took her to meet her favorite princess of all time….

Do you see how she’s looking at her?? 🙂 Could you just melt?

Snow White after she realized that Lola was singing “I’m Wishing” to her. Bless.

Lola got a nice Snow White kiss for that. After the meet and greet, Lola ran to her mom squealing and jumping. SO CUTE.

We made our way back to the new Fantasyland so we could ride the Under The Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid. Now, I don’t know if I’d wait an hour or more in line to ride this, but it was a BEAUTIFUL ride just the same.

In the meantime, Cassidy and Sharon had taken Lola to ride the Carousel and it’s a small world. Then I had work to do. So I worked while the parade played in the background, and then we all met up again in Columbia Harbour House, where Lola hugged me and told me she loved me. 🙂

Then it was Mad Tea Party (aka the Teacups) where Lola was more in love with the idea of riding than actually riding it. She seemed a little unsure and we were afraid she was gonna hurl! But she didn’t, and she did manage to have some fun. 🙂

Cassidy and I went to ogle/buy more treats, and then we made our way to the front of the park by train! It was time for me and Adam to head back to the hotel to catch the Magical Express back to the airport. 🙁

But not before stopping in to visit The Mouse himself!

Then it really was time to go. I was sad. A Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! street party was starting again and I wanted to stay and dance. I wanted to hang out with Sharon and Cassidy and Lola some more. I wanted to stay in the Magic Kingdom! *sigh* But we parted ways and Adam and I headed to wait for the bus back to Port Orleans French Quarter. And folks, this is when we had the WORST bus luck out of the entire trip.

Part of it was my fault. I miscalculated how much time we’d need to get back to the hotel. So when we arrived at the bus stop, I was hoping a bus would be there or get there pretty fast because it’s only a ten minute ride back. It was about 5:35pm.

But of course, no bus showed up. We needed to be back to catch our Magical Express bus at 6:10pm. A bus back to the resort didn’t arrive until 6:15pm. We’d been standing at the stop for what felt like forever. We were stressed and I was getting cold. And when the bus finally arrived, we had to wait for them to load a wheelchair first, and that takes some time.

Luckily, Adam’s mom and sister had driven and they were ready to leave Magic Kingdom. So they were willing to meet us at the hotel to take us to the airport (or I was just going to get a cab). But there was a Magical Express showing up at 6:40pm and they let us on there. The ride back is always so much more subdued. No excitement, just resignation, really. This is the worst part of the Disney World vacation: when it’s over. I would have been so much sadder if I didn’t know when I’d be going back. But fortunately, I knew that I would be back in just a few months, so I wasn’t as sad as I could have been.

I really wasn’t ready to come back. I was not ready to come home and walk into a place reeking of cat poo (they like to poo all over the floor and couches as revenge when we’re gone), I did not want to come back to the cold and snow and slush, all the rushing and honking and abrasive attitudes. But real life has to go on–that’s what makes the trips so wonderful and special, right?

So, this concludes my trip report. I’ll definitely write about my lead up, planning, and trip in June, when I take Aidan (yay!) and my mom (her first trip!), and my cousin Falandos (his first trip too!) who is meeting us in Orlando. Should be a wild time!

Thanks for following along! I can’t wait to go back!

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Hooray For Hollywood–Studios, That Is!

18 March 2013 / disney, disney world, pictures, vacation, yay

Part One: Magic in the Magic Kingdom
Part Two: Animal Kingdom: I LOVE TODAY
Part Three: Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow

Hollywood Studios isn’t my favorite out of the parks, but I do enjoy it. They have Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith, after all, and well, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is awesome.

We started off that day with our bus luck back to not being so good. While waiting for the Hollywood Studios bus, approximately 42,000 Magic Kingdom buses came. And if I’m not mistaken, we had to take another trip through Port Orleans Riverside before finally heading toward the park. Fortunately, we weren’t trying to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, so it wasn’t that big of a deal not to get to the park right at opening.[1. Don’t get me wrong, we love TSMM, but we don’t always have to ride it, and I don’t always feel like the hassle to get a Fast Pass for it is worth our time.]

But anyway, we headed over to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. Here is a somewhat embarrassing confession. Tower of Terror? It really does terrify me. I can only ride it every few years or so. The set up is so freaking scary. And the ride itself is different every time. So sometimes I get on and love it, other times I hate it like burning. Adam grabbed himself a Fast Pass for Tower of Terror, then we hit Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster first thing. THAT’S how you start off a morning, let me tell you. The cast member there kept making the funniest quips and comments. And of course, the ride was awesome.

Adam and I spent a lot of time just walking around Hollywood Studios and looking at stuff. We did ride Star Tours, and it was completely different this time. We usually end up going through the Death Star, but not this time![2. Star Tours is programmed so it’s almost impossible to get the same ride twice. It’s really cool and not scary like Tower of Terror!] We also did the Backlot Tour (but there were no actors for the beginning part so it wasn’t as fun–I don’t think they use actors in the winter, which is smart. I’ve gotten to “star” in that part twice).

I think my favorite part of the Backlot Tour is the big room with all the old props. It has a much cooler name but it’s eluding me now. It’s SO cool to see those things that have been in actual Disney movies. And I also love the museum at the end with more props:

these are from the movie Titanic

We also rode the Great Movie Ride, which I love, in all its cheesy glory.

We ate lunch at the ABC Commissary. THAT was a mess and a half. I usually like it there, but there were some *difficulties* and the shrimp was actually pretty gross. But this lemon meringue cupcake made things kinda worth it:

We made our way to the Magic of Disney Animation building a couple of times. I like it in there. It has character meetings, pretty art work, and exhibits and displays from their latest films and some classic films. There’s also a great art store.

I have a zillion photos of that sign but I just adore it. It never gets old for me.

We ran into some adorable movie characters:

Venellope liked my ponytail. I like my tee-shirt. This is the awesome one I got when I was at Epcot. It’s my favorite.

I like to do the Animation Academy if we get a chance, and we did this time. I got to draw Agent P from Phineas & Ferb:

I don’t think I did too badly. What do you think? It really is cool how simple they make it. And you have to follow directions because the pencils don’t have erasers!

I hope to take Aidan in there when we go in June. I also REALLY hope Ralph and Venellope are there when we go in June because that would make Aidan’s trip!

We FINALLY went through One Man’s Dream after walking past it for years and years, and it was really cool. It’s a museum full of really awesome Disneyana, and then we get to watch a movie about Walt Disney.

{ While we were in Hollywood Studios, Adam got a call from his agent to give him the good news that a YA novel he’d submitted was going to be acquired by Simon & Schuster. AWESOME right? Considering we’d had this tradition of him getting BAD book news at Disney World. What a way to break that curse, huh? 🙂 }

After Animation Academy, we were about ready to go. But then the Disney Channel Rocks show rolled right up and well, why not? I still think the High School Musical show was better, but that’s probably because I’m more familiar with that than a lot of the Disney Channel stuff they have now.

those leggings, though

Then they did the big mistake of asking people to join them. OF COURSE I DID.

I was the only adult who went up there. Did I feel silly? Yes. Would I do it again?

HELL YES.

All in all, we had a pretty low key day at Hollywood Studios. It’s not a park full of “must-dos” for us, so we just go with the flow. Good times. 🙂

There’s only one day left of my trip report, and I’ll talk about our last day at Magic Kingdom, when we had some very special folks spend the day with us!

Till next time!

6 Comments

Nothing Says Procrastination Like Blogging!

14 March 2013 / living in chicago, pictures, ronni

I picked a photo I took in the Spring of 2011 because I am SO READY for that now. It’s still cold outside, here. Cold and grey, and the wind kicks pretty hard. I know we didn’t even have a bad winter, but I’m still ready for it to be GONE. It’s March 14, for the love of sweet baby Jesus. Spring’ll be here in six days, not that you’ll ever be able to tell here. If the high DOES get above 40F, we’re also treated with a side dish of rain. But mainly, the temps have hovered in the mid-30s to mid-40s with no indication they’re moving from that any time soon. That photo from above was taken in May of 2011. I worry that I have at least two more months of cold to endure. WAH.

Most people like it cold because they say you can always add more layers. But there gets to be a point where a ton of layers makes me look like the marshmallow man and they’re bulky and uncomfortable. I have a high heat threshold and very little tolerance for cold–I actually get ANGRY when I get too cold. So given the choice? I’ll take the heat over the cold any day. The cold seriously feels like an assault on my body. I have to tense all up and shrink into myself, and it never works. Even when it’s in the 40s I have to wear layers and layers to stay warm, and it usually only lasts for a few minutes before I’m cold again. It sucks to always be freezing while everyone else says they’re fine or even hot.

At least the trees kinda LOOK like they may start to bud soon–the branches are starting to get bumpy. I wonder how much of that is my imagination, though. The lilac bush around the corner looks as dead as ever. I’ll know Spring is really here when I can smell those beautiful lilacs.

That’s what they look like when they’re blooming and smelling amazing. That photo was taken April 2012.

The sidewalks are covered in dog poo because people obviously can’t be bothered to clean up after their dogs. [1. Why even GET a dog if you’re not going to do everything you need to do to take care of it? I hate scooping the litter boxes but I do it because it’s better for all of our sakes.] It’s really gross. I mean, there’s always at least one pile of dog poo per block, but this is really out of hand. I almost took a photo today but thought better of it. You’re welcome.

Tuesday night was really good. Wonderful food, good company, and good times!

Wednesday was good as well. Spent all afternoon and evening in Naperville. I was cold, but I managed to have a good time anyway. I had dinner at Noodles & Co. I love their Wisconsin mac & cheese, and I get the crusted parmesan chicken on it. I added a caesar salad for $1, and they have one of those cool now drink machines. I get the water and flavor it with cherry or grape. 🙂 It was yummy!

My newest freelance project is underway and it’s not as hard as I anticipated. It’s kind of tedious, but it’s not the worst job I’ve ever done. I’ve been working 1/2 days at VSA, and that’s been going well. And things are going well with my new client, too.

Mercury Retrograde cannot be over soon enough. This is the worst one I’ve ever experienced. Last night, my friend Andy texted me and asked why I didn’t respond to his email. I checked my inbox and HIS EMAIL WASN’T THERE. This morning, I happened to peek into my junk email folder and found a bunch of emails from the past nine days that I have NEVER indicated should be junk and had never been marked as such before. Important email from Moksha, mail from friends. Meanwhile, every single Old Navy and Target email is steadily coming through. I was like WTF. Then I checked the spam folders–found out I’d missed a deadline on something because the email went to spam when it had no business. I am not sure what gmail’s problem is but they need to fix it! Fortunately, I was able to get the thing to the client in plenty of time, but that is seriously distressing. I spent my lunch hour setting up filters to keep this from happening again. I’ve never had to worry about this before. I like to use an email client on my computer–lately it’s been Outlook–because I don’t always want to log in to gmail. But because of this latest glitch, I think I’m going to have to go back to logging in on the web too so I can check those other folders. Because even though I have IMAP, the new labels aren’t showing up in my Outlook. FRUSTRATING. Maybe I’ll see what happens with Thunderbird again. I’ve been bouncing around email clients for a while ever since I switched computers and MacMail is being weird.

Today, I met with a family that I will start babysitting for soon. How exciting is that? I get to watch a 12 month old with the coolest name, and he is so sweet, with totally nibble-able cheeks and an adorable little grin. I’m looking forward to spending time with him. There is also a four year old I’ll get to watch as well. The cool thing is that they live walking distance from me, and Aidan is welcome to come along with me on jobs! I get my baby fix, Aidan gets to play with other kids, and the four year old gets an older boy to look up to. Win win all around. I’m actually really excited about this!

I *think* I might be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow. I made my deadlines, and I have a little bit of breathing room. VSA doesn’t need me until the afternoon, and then I’ll be busy in the evening with a workshop, and then coming home to do more work. Saturday, I am attending a thesis workshop, and Sunday I’ll be working. Monday as well, and Tuesday, and Wednesday! That work’ll be from home, though. Unless I go to a coffee shop which I doubt because frankly, no establishment ever keeps it warm enough for me. Which is why I work in my living room most often unless I have to be onsite. I FEEL more productive at a desk or a table, but my couch is more comfortable. And I have blankets and space heaters and kitty cats.

Adam got really sick the other night. He came out of the room shivering with his teeth chattering asking me to take his temperature. He was burning up. 🙁 He’s been recovering, but he still has swollen glands and a sore throat. I’m feeling weird now… really hoping I’m not getting what he has/had. I really don’t have time to get sick right now.

Anyway, I am off to bed. Crookshanks just hit the litter box so that’s my cue. While I desperately long for Spring, I’ll look at more flowers.

Till next time….

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