meme

A Potluck Entry (Multimedia), Meme

Ew, it stinks in my apartment because someone down the hall burned food. It’s not popcorn, it’s something else. Ew. I just sprayed some Fabreeze air freshener, so it should be better soon.

Today, I took a two-hour nap. I did NOT want to get up, but I had to finish my homework. Plus, I got my W2s, so I kind of want to do my taxes. But I don’t know, it’s nearly 10pm, and I still have another month to pay, so I don’t think I’m going to hurry THAT much. We’ll see, though.

Anyway, it’s amazing what one can find to do when avoiding homework. In the fall, I made a video of Aidan at the Park of Roses. I got into my video editing software and came up with a Remixed Version! Heehee. Check it out:

Actually, the homework excercises are pretty easy. I just have to be careful and not get careless. I do this for a living, so it’s easy for me to get a big head and say “oh pish posh, this is cake!” I have to keep focusing and treat this as if I’m a freshman with NO clue about copy editing whatsoever.

I am having a hard time with the reading. I always disliked doing the reading when I was at Ohio State. I can only remember three classes in which I enjoyed the reading. One was in English class that focused on Chicano literature. The professor was this big Mexican guy from Texas. He always wore gigantic cowboy hats. I remember reading a book called Trini which I loved. It’s been long out of print, but I remember enjoying that class and the other readings, too. Another class in which I enjoyed reading was my African American Literature class, but it had a different name then. The professor was this cute man named Richard Shipley, I believe, and I loved the way he taught. That was where I got my first real exposure to Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston. The third class I loved to read was Plant Biology 101. Funny, huh? But that class was so interesting. I had no problems keeping on top of things in that class. The labs were fun, and the professor was a wacko. On the first day of class (for Plant Bio 101 and 102), he dressed up as an alien named Trog. It was awesome. I wish I could find the power cord to my scanner so I could scan the picture. He was fantastic. The other teachers I remember from college are Alicia Chavez, who taught Spanish 104, Lucinda (can’t remember her last name) who introduced our English class to EMAIL and to whom I turned in a 20+ page paper on the pinball machine culture. (Speaking of, there is a pinball machine museum in Vegas that I REALLY want to visit someday….) One of my psychology professors always had a Diet Coke. Every single day. Except once, he had Taco Bell. I went up to him and said “You went to Taco Bell. They serve Pepsi at Taco Bell.” He was totally tickled that I noticed. I remember my dance teachers. There was Ursula, and Natalie, and I had a guy once, too. And there was my gymnastics teacher who’d said, “No one has ever fallen off the vault in one of my classes. Don’t be the first.” I can’t remember her name, but I remember that. Wow, what a random trip down memory lane, but that’s what you get when I decide to make a potluck entry.

Ew, oh God, I’m going to smell like burnt crap tomorrow. Ugh. That smell never goes away. Maybe I’ll burn an incense. It’ll make me sneeze like crazy, but at least I won’t smell like burnt whatever. Gross.

You know what I hate? When I click a link, and just before the page changes to the new link, I see something interesting. That JUST happened to me. Blah. I hope it’s not a dymanic change, so that when I hit the back button, it’ll still be there.

I’m in the mood to see Juno again. It would be the first time I’ve seen it without having a severe sore throat or some other kind of sickness. But poor little Aidan keeps getting sick. When he was here last night, he felt warm, but he ALWAYS feels warm, so I don’t really have a control. *sigh* The poor baby. This weekend should be chill with him though. There’s a Spongebob game, loads of DVDs that he hasn’t watched yet, plus some Christmas toys he hasn’t opened! My place will be a wreck when it’s over, but it’s all good. I suppose we’ll hit the store tomorrow to get some groceries–I need more Cream of Wheat and Malt-O-Meal. This weekend will be all about hot cereals and other comfort foods. I also promised him we’d bake cookies.

I took a bunch of cute pictures of him last night.

Fuzzily Handsome

Smirky

Contemplation

I hope to get more this weekend. ๐Ÿ™‚

I am so behind on LJ entries. I’ve been mostly skimming. On the days when I am bored silly, NO ONE updates. On the days when I really shouldn’t be reading or can’t read LJ, 4385349549578 people update multiple times! I’m overwhelmed. *sniffle*

I’ve been tagged by alwaysonlybe, so here goes:

A. List seven habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag seven people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag “whoever wants to do it”.

(Some of these will probably be repeats. One can only be so quirky.)

1. I hate mushrooms growing out of the ground. THEY FREAK ME THE HELL OUT. I don’t like how they suddenly appear and I think they look awkward. I literally get chills when I see them or even when I think about them. *shivers*

2. I really like A names. I’m marrying a guy named Adam. My son’s name is Aidan. If I ever decide to have another child and it’s a girl, I will want her name to be Adrianne or Adrianna. I also really like the name Anna.

3. I LOVE doing those word games where you take a word or phrase and try to make words out of them. I can usually get at least 135 words out of a phrase.

4. As time starts to wind down for me to move, the more I start to freak out. I mean, talk about a HUGE life change. I am not even going to get into it tonight.

5. I’m almost always cold. It takes me ages to warm up, and all of that can be undone in about 30 seconds. It’s annoying.

6. My eyes are itching at the moment.

7. Even though I often say it in moments of anger, I still feel very guilty about using the word “goddammit.” ๐Ÿ™

I tag: swankivy, fisme_nasu, newport2newport, quietasariot, tamirabeth, meimeigui, and crimsonghost_oh.

It’s COLD out. But not as cold as it is in Chicago. See #5. Living there will be a huge adjustment as it is. Throw in those cold temps. Eek. I hope to be able to get one of those fancy Eddie Bauer coats that keep you warm in 20 below weather and a pair of Uggs. I think it’ll be worth the money. I don’t even care if I LOOK that cute. When it’s 2 degrees fahrenheit with a windchill of -20, comfort over style always, baby. Comfort over style is the RULE for me.

Alright, I should finish up my assignment (needs two more passes, I may wait until tomorrow to do pass three) and head back to bed. Lavender bath first, though. I would eat dinner, but my appetite’s been kind of ruined by the stinky burnt food smell still wafting in my apartment. Blech. Plus, I ate a HUGE lunch, so I should be okay. I might eat a bit of cereal.

Night night.

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Productive & Random (Pictures)

Today didn’t start off so productively, I must admit. I lolled around in bed until about 4:30pm. It felt so nice, just relaxing, reading, and drifting in and out of naps. And that yummy electric blanket. Mmm. What a great way to spend a winter Saturday.

I messed around on the computer for a couple hours, and then I decided that it was FINALLY time to take down the Christmas tree and decorations. To be honest, I feel kind of cheated regarding this last Christmas. It was wonderful, it truly was, but it just SPED by! Maybe because I put my tree up so late. Maybe because a lot of the holiday was spent in kind of a pain-filled haze. At any rate, it just doesn’t seem like I should have to wait another eleven months to hear holiday music and enjoy the pretty lights and decorations. It’s not fair. Time crawls all the time, but my favorite time of year comes by and it’s over in a blink. *sniffle*

Oh well. I’ll get over it. I mean, I do have a lot to look forward to this year. There’s the big move to Chicago (which makes me have more panic attacks than it should–simply because the whole thought of packing this place up, loading it into a truck, moving, unloading, unpacking, setting up is sooo overwhelming). I hate the moving process. If I could afford it, I’d have movers do the whole thing. The packing, loading, driving, etc. As it is, I MIGHT be able to swing the U-Haul and all its pieces and parts. So, that’s the part that scares me. And the job search that will take place once I’m there. That scares the hot banana out of me. I hate the job search process. I just changed my careerbuilder profile to start showing me Chicago-land jobs, but my line of work–I don’t think it’s worth trying until I’m there. I know how cheap publishing companies are. They’re not going to fly me out to interview me for a copy editing position, not where there are 49084594 copy editors already living there. Anyway, I’ll probably end up someone’s administrative assistant when I do get a permanent job.

I’m going to have to do some MAJOR de-cluttering. That means going through all my clothes again and getting rid of stuff I don’t wear now and never will again. That means getting those space bags and condensing a great deal of “fluffy” things. And I should really, really try to use up all the shower gels and things I have, because I do not want to move that stuff!

I’d like to snap my fingers and have all that stuff taken care of, so I can just enjoy setting up house with Adam.

So, the tree is down, the decorations are put away. I did a little bit of rearranging. I put the side table on the right side of my futon instead of the left. The lighting seems to work a lot better that way. I also cleaned Aidan’s room, and finally put up the Disney posters his soon-to-be Aunt Melissa gave him. I also set up a little radio in there and plan to get him storybooks on tape so he can listen to them before bed. Maybe those things will make him more inclined to sleep in his own bed without much fuss. It would be really nice.

The top of my entertainment center which used to house a clusterfuck of a mess, now has my degree, my “Ronica” name thingy, and the bananas dancing picture Jen painted for me years ago. Much nicer looking. I packed away a lot of things I’d had out as decorations before, but one giraffe is still out, and my little white elephant with its trunk up.

I had a goal of condensing my Christmas decorations into two boxes, and I did it! I was so excited. And you know how everyone amasses billions of those plastic bags from the grocery store, etc.? I finally found a use for some of mine. I wrapped ornaments in them, and my village pieces, too. When I start seriously packing for moving, I will use the rest for that. No need to get newspaper or foam things! Whee!

I got on my other computer and cleaned out my gmail accounts. I had Inbox Dollars paid emails from before Christmas to process, and a few surveys to take. I’m going to be cashing out my Inbox Dollars balance soon and put it in the Chicago account. I have a few other things to cash out too, that’ll help the move a little bit.

I need to clean out my refrigerator. This is sad. There are loads of Christmas leftovers in there, but I was in so much pain that I didn’t bother to eat them. Now that I can enjoy them, I suspect they will wreck havoc on my digestive system. So I have to throw them out. Well, I am procrastinating because throwing out leftovers means there will be dishes to wash. Ew. It’s not even *that* many, but still. Ew.

I need to get groceries, but I refuse to do it until my fridge is clean. I have half a mind to do it now and then make a late-night run to Meijer. I just printed off some coupons, and I am desperately craving bacon, which I am out of! I will need to get cat food for little Lucy soon, and I also want some ice cream. I need to make a list and get more coupons printed out, though, before I hit the store. A late-night run to Meijer sounds really good, though. I’ll be done and can relax all day tomorrow, and I will have a clean fridge. And I’ll take out the trash before I go to the store, so no stinky apartment to worry about.

This not being in pain stuff is so strange to me. The other night, my ear started to bug me so I was scared it was coming back, but by the time morning rolled around, I was okay. YAY. It’s nice, though, feeling normal. My appetite still is not full force, which I don’t mind. I do keep eating too much candy, though.

I’ve been listening to The Andrews Sisters lately. I love that kind of music, it reminds me of cartoons such as Tom & Jerry and Woody Woodpecker. It helped me get through the whole “decorations coming down” ordeal.

Aidan comes back to town tomorrow. I’ll see him on Wednesday. I have all this stuff planned for when we have a weekend together. My mom gave him two $25 gift cards to Toys R Us, and I have a $3 off birthday coupon for him! I also have a coupon for a free meal for him from Bob Evans, so we’re going to make a day of it. Plus, he has all his Christmas stuff to play with. YAY Aidan. ๐Ÿ™‚

My computer is mad at me because I turned off the automatic update install. Well, when I have stuff on it overnight, I don’t like for my computer to randomly reboot and take it away. So POOP on you, Norton and HP Healthcheck!

I was playing a bit with my integrated webcam last night, and came up with a couple cute ones.

Ronni on the Webcam Again
O hai!!

Ronni on the Webcam Again
Lovin’ on Little Lucy
(yes, I know, I need to get reaquainted with a comb or a brush….)

And finally, my typing test results:

75 words

Touch Typing

I need to dust, but I can’t find my Swiffer dust thingy. Oh well. Some other time.

Off I go to clean the fridge, do the dishes, and hit the store, I think. Good night, I mean, good morning.

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Countdown III (Pictures)

Six more days!!
One more till my birthday! I’ll be &@#&@&#@. Ooops, must have missed something in the translation there….

Today, I got a a gift certificate to Amazon.com from Adam’s dad (and my future father-in-law). THAT makes me so happy. Books! This evening, I got a package from Rosa (meimeigui) and Richard, with strict instructions not to open anything early. So I have a birthday present next to me, and a Christmas present for me, and a Christmas present for Aidan, under the tree.

Janet spoiled me yesterday at work. First, there was this at my desk:

Cake!

Then, a bunch of us went to La Chatelaine for lunch, and Janet treated me. I had the lunch combo: ham sandwich, tomato basil soup, and Caesar salad. Yummmmo. I really like that place and want to go again SOON. The prices are not unreasonable, either.

Karen gave me a card and told me not to open it until tomorrow. I sat it by my computer so I can remember. If I am up at midnight tonight, I’m going to open the present from Rosa and Richard. ๐Ÿ™‚

This morning, I came into work and found a poinsettia, two cards, candy, and two books on my desk. What a nice surprise, yes? This time of year is so awesome. One of the cards had a lottery ticket in it. I didn’t win.

E Mae treated the copy editors to lunch at Spagio. It was good. I had leftovers. It’s really rich food, so I can eat like, 1/3 of a serving at a time before my mouth says NO MORE FOR NOW, you!

I have to wrap all of Adam’s gifts tonight, as he’ll be here tomorrow. (!!!♥!!!) I don’t take him for a snooper, but I just want to have it done. Some of the boxes are soooo cute that I’m not bothering to wrap them. But the animal print ones I picked up at Marc’sโ€”DEFINITELY getting wrapped. LoL.

Aidan’s disappointed because there are things under the tree for him and he can’t open them yet.

He’s still cute though:

My Favorite Present Ever
My Favorite Present, Always!

I took a Spending Style test on Tickle today. Here is the result:

Ronni, you’re a Bargain Hunter

In your life, you’re willing to go the extra mile in order to find a good deal. Whenever possible, you hold out until you can find the least expensive version of something you need. Your patience and persistence generally leads you to significant savings, which you likely take great pride in. While some may mistakenly think you are cheap and puzzle over why you prefer thrift stores to overpriced boutiques, you’re content to let them squander their cash while you chase down a great bargain.

When it comes to your financial state, you tend to feel like you’re about where you think you should be.

Except for that last statement, it’s pretty much right on.

To Do, Revisited:

– renew driver’s license (12/20)
– renew license plate tags (12/20)
– clean my room (that includes finally unpacking my clothes from my Atlanta and NYC trips, changing the sheets, and general tidying up)
– finish Christmas shopping
– Christmas cards
– insulate windows with some of that plastic stuff you use with a hairdryer
– hair
– clean little Lucy’s litter box (thorough cleaning, not just litter exchange)
– burn a Christmas CD
– wrap gifts
– get groceries

My computer is SO SLOW. It’s driving me nuts. Takes freakin’ Facebook forever to load, and to switch between programs… the thing acts like it’s straining to do that. I have 1.5 gigs of memory and it’s a 2.something gig processor. Web sites take ages to come up. The thing takes at least ten minutes to fully boot up. It amazes me how much Windows deteriorates after a few years, or months even. I also hate how certain programs steal focus. I’ll start something in the background and then go to something else while I am waiting for it to open. Instead of the other program blinking in the taskbar to let me know its ready, all of a sudden, whatever I’m working on disappears and a new IE window or something is in the way. Drives me bananas. But the new Flickr Uploader is awesome. I can do EVERYTHING I need to do to the photos right in the uploader, so no need to wait for the site to load to finish editing (tags, sets, etc.). Good times.

At about 11am tomorrow, I will be leaving ZB until next Friday. Can’t wait. No more Core TEs to bother with for days and days and days. *glares at vendor*

OK, gonna go finish with the gifts and trying to make Aidan giggle. Later! ๐Ÿ™‚

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Christmas Time & Christmas Meme (Pictures)

Aidan's Happy!

Put up the tree today. ๐Ÿ™‚ There’s something nice about small trees. They’re so easy to decorate. I hadn’t even taken the thing apart really. Just stood it up and fluffed it out a bit. Plopped on the garland and the lights, and when Aidan got here, hung the ornaments with him. Good times.

I’ve been playing with the manual settings on my camera (FINALLY, after having it for 20 months!), and while I still have a lot to learn, I’m excited about how much more flexibility I have with photography. I’m also scared that I’ll screw up pix a lot more. :O Like those sparkle things on Aidan’s face in the above picture. What the hot banana is that all about?

Festive Experimentation

RENT Ornament

Fruits

Sparkle

Mouse Ornament

TV & Stuff

Aidan and the Tree

And time for a survey! ๐Ÿ™‚

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both! I like to wrap, but gift bags are pretty and reusable! ๐Ÿ™‚

2. Real or Artificial tree?
Artificial. I have a cat.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually the first week of December, but I got sick this year, then went to NYC. So, today.

My Tree 2007

4. When do you take the tree down?
Whenever I get around to it. I try to do it soon after the new year.

5. Do you like Eggnog?
No.

6. Favorite gift you received as a child?
Oh man, let me think! Barbie Dolls, and the Hanging’ Tough Live video. ๐Ÿ™‚

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
I think I do? I do have an ornament that I keep up all year round.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My stepfather.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Aidan and Adam.

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received?
Dunno.

11. Christmas Cards?
Yes.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
I LOVE The Christmas List. After that? Hmm, A Christmas Story. A Christmas Carol.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
A bit before Thanksgiving.

14. Have you ever ‘recycled’ a Christmas present?
I may have for a white elephant thing.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My mommy’s dressing, greens, and mac & cheese. And raspberry chocolate chip cookies!

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear.

17. Favorite Christmas Song?
We’ll start with Transiberian Orchestra ones first:
Christmas Canon
Christmas Canon Rock
Wish Liszt (Toy Shop Madness)

Next, Harry Connick, Jr. songs:
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers
I Pray on Christmas

… and these randoms:
– O Come O Come Emmanuel – Carter’s Cord (It’s FREE on iTunes right nowโ€”’til 12/18/07โ€”so go get it!)
– Emmanuel, God With Us – Amy Grant
– These Are The Special Times
– God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (the 98ยบ one)
– Agnus De, the Michael W. Smith version. It’s not really a Christmas song, but it fits.
– Christmastime – Michael W. Smith
– The Prayer
– Angels We Have Heard on High (the Joan Osborne version)

And and…. of course, You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. ๐Ÿ™‚

Oh, and I like the ones Mariah Carey sings and Sarah McLachlan and Jewel and Nat King Cole and … OK, you know what? It’s going to take me too long to answer this question. I have 218 Christmas songs on my computer That’s 13.4 hours.

HEY, I also like the I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas song. Anyone have it and want to share? ๐Ÿ™‚

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home?
I’m the young, unmarried one, so I’ll be traveling. Adam, Aidan, and I are going up to see my mom.

19. Can you name Santa’s Reindeer?
A few of them.

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree?
Angel. Always an angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
It depends. This year, I opened some on Thanksgiving!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
It goes away so quickly.

23. Shopping…Mall or online?
I like to go out and shop. No paying for shipping that way. I remember when they were really trying to push online shopping, back in 1999. EVERY place offered free shipping, and I didn’t have a car. It was the best thing ever. But then, online shopping caught on, so it’s not as much fun anymore.

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?)
I have an apartment, so I only decorate inside.

25. Favorite Christmas cookie?
Raspberry chocolate chip. I need to get some raspberry chocolate chips and a new cookie sheet so I can make them!

26. Do you own Christmassy clothing or jewelry?
I have a couple pairs of socks. ๐Ÿ™‚

27. Do you believe in Santa?
Santa rocks, dude.

‘Til next time.

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Happy December/Holiday Wishes Meme

The first day of my favorite month is finally here! This is the month of Christmas, my birthday, Aidan’s birthday, getting to see Adam twice, NYC, good food, family, presents, songs, pretty decorations, pictures, and all sorts of other happy things.

The Broadway strike is over, which means I am definitely going to get to see RENT! How excited am I? Oh, you just can’t even imagine. I’m going to see RENT!!

I’m ready to put up decorations. Unfortunately, I’m going to be doing some MAJOR digging to get them out, and some rearranging to get them in place, but it’ll be worth it, once my place is all festive and pretty-like.

I love December.

Time for the annual Holiday Wishes meme.

Step One
– Make a post (public, friendslocked, filtered… whatever you’re comfortable with) to your LJ. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fun (“I’d love a Snape/Hermione icon that’s just for me”) to medium (“I wish for _____ on DVD”) to really big (“All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.”) The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.
– If you wish for real possible things, make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it’s your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you.
– Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your LJ, or link to this post (it’ll be public) so that the holiday joy will spread.

Step Two
– Surf around your friendslist (or friendsfriends, or just random journals) to see who has posted their list. And now here’s the important part:
– If you see a wish you can grant, and it’s in your heart to do so, make someone’s wish come true. Sometimes someone’s trash is another’s treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don’t want or a gift certificate you won’t useโ€”or even know where you could get someone’s dream purebred Basset Hound for freeโ€”do it.
– You needn’t spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn’t to put people out, it’s to provide everyone a chance to be someone else’s holiday elfโ€”to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or notโ€”it’s your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just…wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you’ll have the joy of knowing you made someone’s holiday special.

1. Southwest Giftcard(s). Anything to help me see Adam more often is a GOOD thing! ๐Ÿ™‚

2. Anything from my Amazon wishlist

3. A 35mm zoom camera. I lost my old one sometime last year, and I miss taking film pictures.

4. Telephoto lens for my Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera.

5. And finally…. Who can’t use extra cash? ๐Ÿ™‚
Acceptance Mark (lilrongalATaolDOTcom)

Happy Holidays, everyone! ๐Ÿ™‚ They’re upon us! YAY!

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