Now for some old and still current Oklahoma City tradition...

If you're from Oklahoma City, then you'll know that it isn't the Christmas season until you've heard this little song:

BC Clark Jingle

Jewelry is the gift to give

Cause it's the gift that live and live

So give the gift you know can't fail

From B. C. Clark's Anniversary Sale

Most sales are after Christmas

But Clark's is just before

Most everything is marked way down

Savings you can't ignore

At Oklahoma's oldest Jeweler

Since 1892

So give the gift you know can't fail

From B. C. Clark's Anniversary Sale

And this one, for some weird reason, I've been singing all day.

Paul Meade Insurance

Protecting all the things you own

Like cars and trucks to mobile homes

Accidents or tickets too

Call and we'll take care of you

524-1541

Twilight Craze

Here's a precursor to this review. It's important that you know how much I love this book series, these characters and the story all together.

I started reading the book Twilight a few months ago. I'd never heard of it before until a co-worker of mine mentioned it as some new book she'd started reading after the Harry Potter series. I still didn't think anything about it. About a month later, she mentioned it again. I decided to go ahead and try it. I wasn't all that thrilled about it yet but I figured I'd see what the buzz was all about. I did some online research about it and decided to take the plunge and buy all 4 books from a book club so that I could read them all non-stop. Good thing I did, because I didn't realize when these books had been previously released and how hard it would have been to find the last 3 books in the series. So I received the books but hadn't had the motivation to start reading them for about a week after they came. Then, the next weekend, I decided to go ahead and give the series a shot. I later kicked myself for waiting so long to start them! I was so happy that I'd not heard of them until after I was able to buy them all. I seriously don't know what I would have done if I'd of had to wait for the next book to be released. Needless to say, I read all 4, super large books in 5 days. I was so completely hooked that I lost weight, couldn't eat, was super depressed...my life had suddenly lost control. The story was so magnificent in such a dreamy dream world that I desperately wanted to live in that world. I know that sounds crazy, but it was imperative that I did. Once I finished the books, I immediately started reading them again. This time, I was even more hooked but knew there were parts of this story line that I wanted to pass on. So, I am so devoted to this story and the characters. I actually felt what they were feeling. I actually cried and was hurting like the characters. The books were like a drug for me. With that being said, I was so excited to know that I would be able to see this magnificent love story on the big screen. Here's my review of my favorite love story ever told:

SPOILER ALERT: Incase you haven't read the books and want to, don't read anymore of this post. If you don't care about any of it, then why are you reading this?

So I went to see Twilight at the midnight showing. I was so excited. The trailer did a good job of showing you parts of the film destined to get you worked up. Well...I have to say that I was kind of disappointed in the film. One thing that I think would have made it better for me was if they'd removed the cheesy music that was composed for Bella's Lullaby. I'd really love for that song to have been rewritten. It distracted from the scenes so much that I felt myself not focusing on the characters. I felt as if I were watching a soap opera between the music and the weird camera angles that were happening at times. I'm not in love with Bella's Lullaby and that is unfortunate because it's one of the things I was waiting to hear because it had such a presence in the book.

I loved the casting for everybody. Everybody but Mike. He was such a terrible cast. I didn't buy him as a more jock of a guy. He seemed more like a nerdy-weasel. All the vampires cast were fantastic. I didn't know what I'd think of Alice or Jasper but I loved them both. Jasper really looked like he was in pain, uncomfortable and weird. Alice was so cute and sweet. She was the one I was the most worried about but she was perfect. The only unfortunate thing for the Cullen family is that their back story was completely missing from the movie and there wasn't any time spent building the characters. Now for New Moon, the movie will have to play catch up since the whole idea of the story is that Bella lives among the vampire world with the Cullens. And with Edward trying to kill himself in the middle of New Moon, this movie will have to explain the Volturi family in Italy. I really enjoyed learning about Carlisle's and the family's history of where each of them came from. I know that those of us that have read the books will already know that information. But for those few people who haven't, that go see this film, might feel lost. I know that they wouldn't share the love you have for this family simply from seeing this movie.  In the books, you adore the family, regardless of their pasts. But boy, do they all look magnificent! I loved there looks. I'd have a crush on them too if I were in that high school!

I understand that the whole story is from Bella's point of view. So if there are characters that weren't completely portrayed the way they should be then that's because it's her point of view and there's no way she'd know most of that. If it weren't for Midnight Sun, we might not know how some of the characters really are. Jessica was good in acting sort of snooty and jealous. But Bella didn't know how hateful Jessica's thoughts were because they were her thoughts. I did like that you were able to see some of the important things from Edward's point of view on when he'd be eavesdropping on people. 

Why people had to die in this film, I'll never understand. Yes, okay, there are some nomad vampires hunting within the Cullen's territory. But people didn't have to die if they didn't in the book. Unfortunately for the movie, I think that is part of what hurt it. They spent more time on 2 characters dying when they could have used that valuable time introducing characters and focusing on the attraction between Edward and Bella. I felt a bond with them in the books but I didn't leave the theater feeling that bond with them.

I missed the multiple conversations that Edward and Bella constantly had in Twilight. Instead, in the movie, they just showed clips of them talking dubbed over with loud, annoying soap opera music. They're conversations are what makes their relationship what it is. You don't get any of that. You get some arguing about whether they should be friends or not, some random ignoring of each other and then instant dating. That in between time is missing. So I felt that story of their bonding was lack luster.

The timing of the film felt extremely rushed. Even though it was a 2 hour film, it felt like an hour and a half. They should have gone ahead and made this a 2 and a half hour film. I know that the studio is failing and that the budget wasn't very large but come on! If you're going to wrangle a book series that has a cult following, then you'd better do it right! Nothing like getting a ticket out of bankruptcy and then losing it in the wind. Lord knows, New Moon better be good. I better cry when he leaves her! I better cry when he comes back and he's carrying her back to his house to talk to the family about when was the appropriate time to turn her. Those two scenes are super important to me. If they're screwed up, then this movie is going to be a let down. I better know, see, and feel that neither of them can live in this world if they other one isn't.

I didn't think the director really got it all that much. I'd much rather of had a Harry Potter director. The fairytale of this story seemed lost in the shuffle somewhere. The scenery was fantastic and the color of the film was great.

I blame myself for ruining the soundtrack. I am not a fan of the music from the soundtrack yet. I do love Paramore's Decode. That's a good song. I'm not a Linkin Park fan though. Rob Pattinson, the actor playing Edward, has an awesome voice. I never would have thought that but his songs are great. When I was reading the books, I created my own soundtrack and it included more bands like Coldplay, The Cure, Depeche Mode, the more moody and brooding bands. So now, when I hear those songs, I think of certain scenes in the books. I can't get into the actual soundtrack yet. It may have to grow on me for a while.

I'm annoyed by all the critics and reporters or people just adding their two cents on the film because they're complaining about there being no biting, no blood, no fangs. But my favorite complaint is that Bella and Edward spend too much time staring into each other's eyes, there's too much brooding between them. WTF! That's what they do in the book. I WANT to see that. I'm paying close to $10 a ticket to see that. Lord knows, I better get some staring and brooding! Excuse me if you don't get it! Did you read the books? Then shut the hell up! You wouldn't be saying all that ridiculous bullshit if you had. So all that tells me is that if you haven't read the books, you're more than likely not going to like this movie. So don't bother going to see it.

I've seen the movie twice and the second time was better. There are scenes in the film that are funny. And then there are scenes that are inappropriately funny. They shouldn't even be funny. I should be all caught up in their emotions but instead, I'm laughing out loud. I think that's another thing that hurt this film. I laughed more than my heart hurt. And being opening night and midnight movie madness, the crowds were extra loud. That made it hard to focus on the characters. 

Strangely enough, I don't hate the film. I don't LOVE it, but I like it a lot now. And I'm strangely drawn to see it some more. I'm going to see it a few more times. I'm hoping that not having a full theater of other excited people will help me to focus on the characters and the story more.

I gave it a C+ the first viewing. I changed it to a B after the second viewing. It will never go any higher than that until they rewrite Bella's Lullaby.

And that, my friends, is my review of the film that I was dying to see.

Current Happenings

Greyson's birthday was yesterday. We had a party for him Saturday. He had lots of fun. I made him a Muno cake and we played his Yo Gabba Gabba DVD for him. He got lots of cool, fun gifts. Needless to say, he was exhausted by the time bedtime rolled around. I can't believe it's been two years now. The time has really flown by. He's such a good little boy. He can be trying at times but he's a good kid.

I had an interview Wednesday and it went really well. I hope I hear from them soon. I also received and email from Walmart sending me info for doing some contract work. I just hope something happens soon. This being out of a job is not fun. If it were by choice, then I'd have no problems with it, but since it was a surprise, it's not so fun. I was referred to a recruiter by my old boss. Well that guy was a joke. I haven't heard from him yet and he was supposed to contact me 3 weeks ago. I think I'll call him and let him know what a big help he was and that I'll never work with him again. Thank God I didn't have to pay him anything!

Lately, I've made lots of new friends on this chat room called Yoville. It's through Facebook or MySpace. It's fun. It's not like a game or anything, but you have an apartment and you can buy furniture and decorate. You can buy clothes and change whenever you want. They had Halloween costumes for sale and it was funny watching all the avatars running around dressing in ridiculous costumes. You go to work at a factory to make your money. The more people you meet and have on your crew, the more money you make. I'm almost a Vice President. Now they just introduced these new houses you can buy. There's a casino where you can win...and lose money. There's a dance club where you can drink and you screen gets more blurry, the more you drink. Can't say I've done that one yet. But you can tell when someone is drunk, their character sways. You can do dance moves and you talk in bubbles. If you get something to eat or drink it will speed up your movements and give you more energy to do dancing. It all sounds silly but it's actually pretty fun. Some people get on there and think it's boring because they're expecting some game. But I enjoy meeting all the people from around the world and talking to them on a regular basis. It's kind of neat to see into the lives of others half way around the world. It's also weird to have them saying that they need to get to bed when I'm just getting home from "work". That's a general term right now. LOL!

Our dog Penny got out of the fence...AGAIN, and was sprayed by a skunk! Damn dog! So she's been sleeping outside the past couple of nights to air out. We finally found a concoction that seems to have helped somewhat. We mixed baking soda, peroxide and dish soap. It helped a little but she still has a slight odor to her. But not bad enough to have to sleep in the freezing temps outside.

That's about it that's happening here. Thanks to those few that read this. Sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up on this blog. It's been chaotic even though I don't have a job. Somehow I seem to be more busy...trying to find a job and all.

UGH!

So, as to be expected, the job hunt is seriously not working out. So I guess don't be surprised if you see me around town waiting tables or working a night shift somewhere. It sucks because I'm a talented designer but I can't find a job to prove that. Looks like Walmart is the only safe place for a person to be right now. I have to wait till jobs are posted before I can even apply for them, though. So I sit and wait...and wait...

I've heard over and over from places that they're not hiring, yet I have my old boss who's refusing to let go of his dream and tells me that he has a few jobs down the pike. Well, those don't pay the house note. So thank you for making me a statistic in unemployment market right now. I'm so fucking pissed about this whole damn thing. I don't even want to talk about it anymore.

Plus, I can't even write on my book because all of this stupid job search shit is taking up my time. So I'm ultra annoyed that I can't focus on that. Then I keep hearing that the world is going to end in 2012...so why bother, right?! That's only 4 years from now!

Looking for Jobs in all the right places

So I'm real bummed. I just found out today that my work is closing it's doors this week. So I'm jobless now. I hate that. I really loved my job but with the economy the way it is and with Walmart making so many changes, suppliers just aren't spending the money anymore. And here I am, again, looking for a job. Blah! I hope to find one as fun as Damay Marketing. Everybody was so nice here. I'll miss everybody that I worked with. So needless to say...I'm sad to be leaving. But wish me luck on finding something new.

Breaking Dawn is breaking down

I know some of you aren't happy with Breaking Dawn. So far, Janet, you're the only one out of our group to think that. But we're still waiting on Regina, Jennifer, Becky and Jonathan to have finished. They're all hovering between New Moon and Eclipse. So it won't be long now. I'm curious what they think of it, too. I actually liked it though. I thought it was more sweet that they were actually able to conceive and it come as a shock to the whole family. It did take LOTS of turns and was close to getting a little too crazy but I still enjoyed it. I think that sometimes authors get so caught up in the hype that they're in a frenzy to finish and the story starts to suffer. I read a review by a 13yr old and she felt that the book was a departure from Bella and Edward's true world. I agree, for sure. I never expected them to have a child, I expected the standoff at the end to turn out different. But all in all, I'm a hopeless romantic and ALWAYS want the "happily ever after" to happen for such beloved characters. I'm reading Eclipse again, now and will probably be starting Breaking Dawn this weekend. I'm planning on reading much slower. In my haste to plow through the books at lightening speed, I've misunderstood some things and have missed some as well. So I'm glad to be re-reading them. I think I'll have a better opinion of the book after that. I loved it and I'll definitely be super thrilled to be reading it again. And sad on the other hand because I've finished the series and the only thing I have is the movie in 2 months. So I'll re-read them again, I'm sure. I still hope that Stephenie will finish Midnight Sun. It's a million times better than Twilight, but only after you've read the entire series. Otherwise, you'll be more confused than anything and the mysteries of the series won't be there anymore. I think the main reason I'm able to love Breaking Dawn is because I have SO much vested in Bella and Edward and the world they exist in that it's not that far out there about the events that happen. I love her special talent all the more and having re-read the first few books am starting to see more hidden info about her talent and her fate as a vampire. I was super happy that she actually got to become one, I'm still having a little trouble visualizing Edward being happy about having a child when he never expected that would happen to him. The book never shows his full joy about being a father. So I'm just curious about that. Also, with Bella being so dead-set against getting married the first place, it's hard to believe having a baby would be something she'd totally immerse herself in. But I guess no matter what age, if you are so passionately in love with someone like that and you share another human being, then I suppose she could for lack of  better words "be a bit off her rocker". Reading Bella's perspective makes me feel like she's very overbearing for Edward's existence and his family. She brings much trouble with her and they all must face it because of Edward's love for her in addition to the family's love for her. Also, with her being a shield, I think part of her talent is she's able to solve problems and almost has a higher intuition than others. She really knew that this baby was going to be good and not bad. I admit, I was second guessing her, though. I was on team Edward at that point. The blood drinking thing made sense in a sick way. I thought it was an interesting twist on that part of the story. Weird but interesting. I loved getting to see her hunt and learn how to expand her talents and make herself much more than she thought she could be. Alright, I'll stop rambling. Incase you haven't noticed...I'm a Twihard!

Ciao!

Midnight Sun

Okay so I've read Twilight again, and have finished New Moon, again. And I'm browsing my more-than-once-a-day websites to watch the trailers for Twilight. YES, PEOPLE, I'm obsessed! MUCH! And as I started out on Yahoo, I noticed a story about how the author, Stephenie Meyer was going put her story, titled, Midnight Sun, on hold indefinitely. I remember seeing that a couple of days ago, just the mention of the book but was so blinded by what I was seeking (the trailers) that I totally ignored it. Well, upon finding the Yahoo story today, I read it and discovered that she was writing an adaptation to Twilight from Edward Cullens' point of view! I'm sure some of you have known that for some time. I'm just getting into this series so every wound is still fresh for me. I find out that someone she trusted leaked the 264 page draft onto the internet. Now she's so upset that she says she won't finish it at all!!! I'm so upset that I think I'll jump out in front of an out-of-control van on black ice (you have to have read the books to get that reference). I'm so desperate for her to finish this book the way she had intended. I was talking to my husband about it and he got my hopes up a little by mentioning it could just be a publicity stunt. A lot of people claim that stuff is stolen and the idea gets so much more hype than it would have generated on it's release date. She gave a few drafts to trusted people and one of them leaked it. If she doesn't decide to finish it, then that person should damned to eternal hell. Cause that's what I'm living right now having read the draft and desperately wanting to finish. If she doesn't finish it, it would be a HUGE mistake on her part. Obviously, Edward is the favorite and every girl I know, including myself, are hopelessly in love with him. OF COURSE I'D BUY THE BOOK WHETHER IT WAS LEAKED OR NOT! Also, I'd want her to write all 4 books from Edward's perspective. It's interesting to know one side of the story of a damned love affair but to know the other side is totally refreshing. It's a she said he said idea that I'm totally in love with. You know what Bella Swan's thinking through the whole book but you know Edward is editing his thoughts to her. But you never get the full story. I love that I can see his infatuation for her and sooner than her obsession starts for him. I never knew that! But please, for the love of all that is holy, if you love Edward and Bella as much as me, please, PLEASE don't read the draft until you've read the 4 books. There are some spoilers in there. I was super pleased to have read them after I'd read all the books. If I'd of read the draft before I finished all the books, there wouldn't have been as much mystery and I wouldn't have felt as deeply as the characters felt. The writing is so compelling that I felt they were real and was having a hard time remembering that they're fictional.

So if you feel as strongly as I do about her finishing her adaptation and if you'd like to see her do the rest of the books from Edward's point of view, please voice your opinion. I beg you! For my sanity and her pocketbook, she needs to finish this book and I BEG, BEG, BEG her to adapt the other 3 books to Edward's thoughts!

Thanks for listening to me vent!

Ciao

Twilight

So I've been super absorbed in reading the Twilight series the past week and a half. I've read all 4 books and in 5 days! I'm almost finished with book 1 again and about to restart book 2. This obsession has my sleep schedule in chaos. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I haven't checked my email since I started reading on Saturday, August 23rd. That's literally, all I've been doing, is reading. The writing is so good and the action is so tense that I start feeling what the characters are feeling. It's crazy how a book can get you so worked up and make you cry at the same time. Bella and Edward are the lead characters and their love for one another is over the top. And I might add, that he's the hottest vampire to ever walk this earth! Now I'm dying for the movie just to see the book come to life. I can tell by the trailer that quite a few things have been changed but nonetheless it's still my book in live action. It's an addiction like meth. Read it once and you're hooked. I've been begging everyone I know to read the books so I can talk to somebody about them. So far, I've been successful. 3 friends are reading them and from what they've been texting me all weekend, they seem to love them. I knew they would. This series isn't for the guys, that's for sure. They might enjoy the movie more since it's such a romance novel about forbidden love between a human and a vampire. But, the action scenes should be good if they're done well. Okay, enough talking about the books. Back to reading them!!

Ciao!

I'm Harry disappointed!

So I've been having this internal countdown till Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince comes out to theaters. November 21st sounded great to me. Not too far away. Now, I read a story on Yahoo News that the release date has been pushed back to July 17! JULY 17th? OF 2009???!!! Good Lord, they're killing me. I've already read book 6 and 7 and have started book 6 again and I'm more than half way through. I'm gonna drive off a cliff. I can't believe I have to wait that long. I guess the only positive thing is I'll have summer Fridays at that point and won't have to take vacation to go see it.

Speaking of vacation, I'm frantically putting together the booklet for our cruise. I'm trying to hurry before summer ends so we can have a party to discuss it and play some Wii. But I'm also wanting to maybe use it as a portfolio piece. I'm so close to being finished though. I hope to be done or close to done by the end of this weekend.

Greyson recently was referred to the Benton County Sunshine School for developmental testing. He was actually doing really well and he didn't qualify for therapy. That's great news! Now we don't have to worry whether his motor skills were lacking or if his speech was behind. He's perfectly normal and is above average in some developmental things. High five little man!

I've had this itch to write on my story some more. I'm sure it's because of the reading I'm doing and the writing Mike's doing on his story. Erin at work has been talking about how in love with the Twilight Series she and her friends are. I went ahead and ordered the first book so it should be here soon and I'll get to see what all the buzz is about. I love vampire stuff. Bela Lagosi is my favorite old school vampire. He's classy and old time handsome. Even though he got the shaft in Hollywood, he's still a great.

Jennifer had a garage sale a couple of weeks ago and that was great. It felt good to get some of that crap out of the house and the garage. The whole sale made just over $1100. Of course Jennifer made just over $700 of that and the rest was split by me, Regina, Jonathan and Coco. So that was nice. We got $169 of it. I feel like there's more we could purge from the house. It still feels cramped. We just have a lot of stuff. A lot of it is frames, I mean, how can you throw out frames, especially when they have photos in them? What can you do.

Still haven't finished our flower bed out front. We've been really busy and the heat has been unbelievable. Well, I guess it's more the humidity. But still, we couldn't move at the garage sale without sweat rolling off our entire bodies. It was f-in hot! It's been nice the past week. Some rain and cloudy days, with temps in the mid to high 80's. I'll take it, it's a nice change and makes me crave fall weather and Coldplay.

Alright, till later.

Ciao!

Like the refrigerator

So I keep checking all my friend's blogs as if they make hourly updates. What a weird obsession I have with their blogs. It's like going to the fridge and standing there wondering what to snack on. Then you come back 2 hours later still looking for something and see all the same stuff as if something magical happened and there's new food. Man, we're all fighting this cold thing going around. That's the last thing I want in this house since little man is always sick.

I'm real excited. I did some searching on Facebook and MySpace the past few days and found a couple of my old best friends from grade school and high school/college. It's so strange to talk to them about what's been going on in your life and theirs, because at some point, it seems as if there wasn't all this time that's passed since then. So that was fun to find them finally. I always get excited when people find me that I haven't seen in years. It's been fun talking about the old days and seeing old photos and cracking up at the styles back then. Plus those are more people that may want to go on the group cruise next fall! HECK YES!

Gotta go, it's late and my medicine has made me sleepy.

Ciao!

Bosses who don't care

Something really funny that I laugh about a lot...one of my old bosses once told me on the way to a photoshoot that she hated this one piece of art that she had to translate into a store guide for the WM associates. I don't remember how we started talking about it now, but I'm guessing we were discussing the person she thought did it and I guess she had issues with her. Anyway, she's going on about how this one seasonal sign was so terrible and how it was the worst thing she'd ever seen. I asked what it looked like and she started describing something that immediately I recalled. BECAUSE IT WAS MINE! She thought someone else had done it and apparently she has no respect for this person. So I laughed along with her never saying a word about how it was mine. It was my first sign I'd ever built for the U.S. stores. I worked in WM International at the time. The U.S. side needed help so I offered to do one of the seasonal signs. It was for June. Well, nothing happens in June as far as a celebratory theme. So I even came up with the theme of "Midsummer Savings". All of WM's signing needed a savings message. Shall I describe the art of such horrifying design? I shall. It was dark purples and blues that emulated dusk, right as the lightening bugs come out. There were trees in flat shadow colors of navy blues ranging in different sizes and shades to give depth perception. Then I had little lightening bugs that had a soft fluorescent green glow to look as if the night were full of these little glowing insects. When you looked at it, it made you instantly hear crickets chirping and quite wind blowing. I loved it then and I love it now. I still wish I had the artwork. That was probably created in Illustrator 3 or 5. Some really old version. So I never admitted that I did it instead of this other person. I didn't want her to feel like an asshole. Feeling like one and looking like one are two different things. So I just sit back and laugh because when I tell certain people that story, they laugh and are confused because they liked it too. But what do we know. We're only artists that actually graduated with Graphic Design degrees. And all that trashing comes from a person without one. What is this world coming to, I tell ya! Maybe it was because she had to start in a department that did nothing but boring store guides. I'd be pretty bitter, too. I was once told by an arrogant WM Buyer that "everybody wants to be the buyer". Really? Well, asshole, everybody wants to be the art director, too. So stick that up your...

Ciao!

Looks like this is the start of a new business

So I think I'm finally starting something here. Janet's got me all in a tizzy trying to help her get a new idea she has up and running. And because of that I've finally named my business and created my logo. So I got that goin' for me. Again with that line. I laugh every time! Anyway, I love it and am now on my way to getting a website started next week with the help of Janet. I'm more than illiterate when it comes to that kind of stuff.

So stay tuned. More developments will be underway.

Ciao!

Commence with the Rain

So the rain started last night. It's supposed to last till Friday or so. Can't rely too much on the weathermen. But we'll see. So it's dark in the office today. I don't like turning the lights on. Too bright. So I choose to use a desk lamp. It's 9:35 in the morning and I still haven't turned it on. But at least I've had my first cup of coffee so far! So I got that goin for me. (That last line is for my movie buff friends). I laugh everytime I hear or see that line. So with the dark and rainy day, I'm listening to Coldplay. Normally they're a band I listen to in the winter. They're the perfect snow and cold day sound. Maybe that's the meaning behind the name. Weird. Anyway. Work has been scary slow here the past two months. My co-worker left for Saatchi. I'm the only artist left. So basically, I'm kind of like the Creative Director/Sr. Art Director/Art Director/Graphic Designer/Production Artist and anything else in between. I'm not complaining at all. Just stating facts. I actually am loving it here. I'm really rooting for the underdog here in hoping that my job stays the course. Mike and I were actually joking, but not, about me having to mow grass at my job, but when your boss says that to you in a business meeting...  I know, it's very scary. Especially since I'm the only one carrying Greyson on insurance until Mike's starts in September. My boss told me yesterday that we signed on 3 new jobs which is good. And he reminded me that he still wants to hire me another artist. I know he does. I just hope the work keeps coming so his business can keep truckin'. I love my job, my people, my boss, the work I get to do. Everything about it. Although I recently had to deal with a buyer's assistant and a guy that use to be a buyer's assistant at WM. What a joy that was. I'm only reminded why working at WM made me stressed out. I really HATED my experiences with those kinds of people. The learnings I take with me are invaluable though. You just can't get good experience like that anywhere else, I'm convinced. It's sad that the few buyers that are a joy to work with get mixed up in that mix. The rest of the world is so much easier after you leave. And when you hear people complaining about their situations, all I can say is "it's STILL better than Wal-Mart!"

My friends and I have been dying to start our own thing. One of them has a huge craft room and we always say that we need to have craft day someday and we never do. I've decided that we're going to have craft day if it kills us! We'd all like to sell things on Etsy and Elsewares. We'd all love that if that were our business everyday vs. dealing with the everyday business or art and how subjective it is. Now we could make things and if you don't like it, then don't buy it. So there! Karla makes awesome necklaces and lanyards, I want to make plush characters. Regina wants to make something but isn't sure what yet. As for Jennifer, I'm not sure what she wants to do, but she'd be happy doing it. I'd also like to do cards. I know I've been talking about this for years now. But the fact is, I'm lazy. Honestly, I can't start a business being lazy. So there that is out in the open.

I was just reading my friend Brian's blog and he always inspires me to write on mine. Whether I follow through on that or not is another thing. LOL! Again with the laziness. That seems to be that crutch for something broken that I can't quite heal fully. Hmmmm, maybe that's why they call it a crutch. How genius of a word with such a meaning. Besides the point, Brian mentioned that he'd gone through a bunch of old photos of his times here in Arkansas. Those were the good ole days. I miss them but then again, I don't. I'm enjoying my time in the now and look forward to the future. Greyson is getting so big now. I can't believe that it's July and he'll be 2 in November already. People always say it goes by fast. It seems really slow while you're thinking that and them BAM! it's gone by in a flash. It's so hard to believe that he use to be so little and now he's up and running. And as cute as can be, I might add. But of course I'm biased.

So, it's now 10:00 and I should be getting to work. Unfortunately, there's no work to do at this very moment. It's a whole lot of waiting. Luckily the days go by fast with the hours we work here. Now if I were at WM, I'd be dying! Well, gotta go, I just got an important job asked of me. I have to make some sweet tea! Don't laugh. Sweet tea is a staple here!

Ciao!

Cruise Update!

And before I forget, I'm going to the travel agent next Friday to get some info and to see if the cruiselines have posted Fall 2009 itineraries. I'm sure they have by now. So I'll be compiling all the info so if anybody has any questions, I'll try to have answers. I'll have multiple cruiselines to choose from and in different price ranges. And if this is the first you've heard of this, sorry, my mind doesn't work like it should anymore. I'm a lot more forgetful than I'd like to be. But with that being said. We're planning a group cruise next year in the Fall, most likely in the first week or two of November of 2009. If you are interested in going, let me know and I'll add you to the list. We'll be having a get together sometime this summer to discuss my findings and then we can all decide which one sounds the best for us and then we can all book at our leisure.

Ciao!

A Somewhat Lazy Friday

It's been a rough couple of weeks at work now that I'm the only artist. I've had a few late nights trying to get ready for presentations. It's draining, but I do it because I love my job. I don't think I've caught up on sleep yet. Little man is home today. He had new tubes put in this morning so he's home slacking off with mom today. Of course, he's napping right now or this post wouldn't be happening. He scared us a couple of weeks ago when he had a fever and was sent home from daycare. We thought it was a normal fever he always gets. But this time, he had a sudden spike and it caused him to have a febrile seizure. We just about passed out. We panicked and decided to drive to the hospital but 911 told us to go back home. We were just around the block luckily because the first response team showed up within about 30 seconds of us getting back. He's fine and nothing damaging happened. Except maybe I might still have high blood pressure! Turns out he had a really severe inner ear infection that caused the fever. Needless to say, the old tubes weren't working. We'll see how these go.

So we've started our landscaping out front. It's coming along slow as I sort of figured it would. Between Mike and I having to wait till Greyson goes to sleep around 8:30 or so on weeknights and then off and on over the weekends, it gets to where we just don't have the light or the energy to dig some more. But in our defense, it's literally like carving Mt. Rushmore out there. You dig about a foot and a half and you hit nothing but rock. So the pick axe has come in handy here lately. But it's going to look good. I've already got some plants ready. We'll finish it soon and then I'll post a before and after so you can see our house value rise.

I really should be taking a nap right now. I can barely keep my eyes open. But I'm like that little kid that doesn't want to miss anything. Cause there's just so much going on around here. Baby sleeping, dogs sun bathing, nothing on TV.

My addiction to MySpace and Facebook has finally fizzled. I go on every once in awhile to see what's going on with folks and to see if I have messages, but that's about it. I haven't posted any photos in a long time. It's just too time consuming anymore. I'd rather be playing outside with Greyson than sitting in front of a computer all night. I do that during the day at work.

So I'm ready for that Stimulus check to get here, how about you?! Stupid last two digits of your SSN. We have to wait till 2010 for ours to get here. Well, it only feels like that anyway.

Mike finally got a new job. Thank you Jesus! Finally! He's getting paid what he should be making. Plus, he's closer to home. That means less gas money. And believe me, that Jeep likes to eat! And he has slightly better hours. He's working for Marketing Drive.

I think that's all I have to say now other than I need to clean this house!

Ciao!

P.S. I'm ready for a cruise. How about you?

Memorial Weekend

What a good and terribly, terribly bad weekend this was. Sorry it's been a while. Family life is always on-the-go. I just found out that a friend of mine's 15 week old baby was born yesterday. He's now in heaven. She was having complications but bed rest didn't seem to help. My prayers are with her and her family. What a sad time. It only makes me think of how incredibly lucky we are and how thankful I am that Greyson is healthy and okay. The weather has been reasonable, some rain, lots of sun, high temps. It's been nice so far. Mike and I are working on a freelance job. It's a good change from the "retail" world. I'm upset that two of my friends are sad. One is sad because she thinks she'll be alone the rest of her life and feels like that's something she has to come to terms with. I wish I could make her understand that it won't be like that forever. But those are words fallen on deaf ears for now. Then another friend is sad but I don't know why yet. I've called him twice to just talk to him but I've only gotten voice mail. He says we'll talk soon. We'll see. I have a feeling that it has to do with liking one of my friends who is now dating someone. Since I brought the party down, I'm not really in the mood to write much more today so I'll call it quits for now.

Lost Voice

So I lost my voice last night. And today, still nothing but weird little sounds and some breakthroughs of actual voice action. Although some of you may be glad. : ) It's funny how you never think about not being able to make a phone call or order at a drive thru. I got my hair cut this morning and was struggling trying to tell the guy what I wanted. It turned out great though. So I guess I can talk less then. If I can get a good haircut with no voice, then why talk at all. Oh, that's right I love to talk. I almost forgot. I love chocolate cake, too. That I don't forget. Why is chocolate cake so good? Damn you and your decadent love. Stupid cake. So I'm off work today. It's nice. Ironically, I'm taking my Dr. Martin Luther King day off since we were so busy I didn't get to use it a couple of months ago. I think I finally have my blog to the set up that I want. Although, one thing that bugs me is that when I return to start a new paragraph, all the copy's leading is much tighter. I don't understand all that coding stuff so I don't know how to fix that. Any help for a chocolate cake lover? 

Recently viewed movies

So we just watched Pan's Labyrinth. I'm not sure what to think of it yet. I felt kind of disappointed to tell the truth. I thought it would be more fairytale. But instead it was more about war and an asshole. It was a good movie. It just wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't know anything about it before I watched it. All I knew was there were some interesting characters. Although I did find karma to be a bitch in the end. Right on!

We also saw The Pursuit of Happyness. I really liked that movie. I thought it was Will Smith's best. I haven't seen Ali yet. I almost forgot that I was watching him and not a real person. I probably especially like it because I can relate to it. My mom was kind of in the same shoes as him. We were on welfare for only about a year or so. I remember going with my mom to interviews for second jobs at night. I never understood that situation in her life. I just found it kind of annoying that I couldn't be at home and instead I'm sitting in a car waiting for her to come out so we could leave. My brother and I are eight years apart. So I'd have to watch him every night while my mom went to her second job. I went to a private school so that wasn't cheap, but the education was fantastic. At one time I was in 8th grade and my brother was in Kindergarten. That was double the tuition. That's the year we had to be on welfare. I remember being really embarrassed to go by our lunch tickets because I had to tell them out loud (in front of my friends) that we needed the welfare lunch plan. I was mad at my mom for making me do that. I did it, waiting to the last possible minute so that everybody was gone. Once I got to high school, I had to go to a public one. No more private school. Private high school was too expensive. I hated, HATED my high school. I wanted to go where all my friends were going. Anyway, being poor is really defeating. I wonder how many times my mom cried about her situation, having two kids and having to work two jobs and still not having enough money to be okay? I know she had to. It's too depressing of a situation to be in to not feel like you are at the end. Once high school started, I got a job with my mom and worked at a cafeteria during my entire high school years. I hated it, but we made enough money between the two of us that we were more than okay. I went away to college and I've never looked back. I was the first in my whole family to go to college. So I was proud that I had a career that I could enjoy doing and make decent money. My first job out of college, I was making the exact same amount a year that my mom was making with both of her jobs. I just feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to make a better life for myself. I hope to provide that for my own family.

Only my second time...be gentle

So I don't know why I have this urgent need to have a blog. It's the weirdest thing. I don't even know what to put on here yet. But I feel like I want to write something all the time. Maybe as I ramble on something will come to me. But as I sit here waiting...nothing. Let's start here, so I'm writing a book. I don't want to give any details because there are peeps out there that might see it as a good idea and steal it for their own. You just never know. I know only a handful of people know about my site and their friends. So I know they wouldn't do it. But for those random people that just happen to find my page, that's who I'm talking about. I feel scatterbrained when I write on it. There's so many ideas that I feel like I can't get them out fast enough. But it's so much fun to write it. I'm now attached to the characters and feel I have to do them justice. I also know who I want to play the characters if my dream of it becoming a movie were ever to come true. The main character isn't cast yet, though. I'm having the hardest time with that one. Good things come to those who wait. So I haven't actually been able to work on my story for 2 years now. But I think this weekend is a good time to do some writing. I hope to be able to read it to Greyson someday and it be one of his favorites. Maybe he'll ask for more and then I'll have to write sequels. I promise to not make them bad. For all you sequel haters out there.

So it's kind of rainy and cold out today. What a good day for spring cleaning. This house needs a bulldozer. Too bad Greyson doesn't have one. LOL! Although he does do most of the demolishing around here. But we're pretty good at that too. Somehow I think putting all three of us in the same house equals an F5 tornado. Or maybe we have ghosts. I swear, once things are put away, they all seem to find themselves right back where they were.

So my obsession has become "cruising". I can't stop thinking about it. It's like a disease that's eating away at my brain. I dream about it constantly. I'm ready for the next one. It's in November of 2009. Now some of you laughed at the fact that the date is so far away. Well, for those of you that haven't planned a cruise before, don't know that they're a bit different than just flying to Las Vegas. These things take time, also early booking gets you the best rates and the best rooms. You wait too late and you're stuck in a crappy room or worse, you're stuck with no room. Joking aside, the actual itineraries haven't been posted yet. So around July, I'm going to the travel agent to get some info and then I'll have a get together to pass out the info I've put together. Then we can all chose which one is the one we want to go on. The travel agent that Mike found lets you make payments, kind of like how Wal-Mart had layaway. So that's even better for those people that don't have the money all at once like that. You just have to have it paid in full a month before the cruise date.

So, this has been fun so far. I'll be back, but can't say when. Not that I'll have to kill you or anything.

Virgin Blogger

Okay so it's not technically my first time to blog. But I don't technically consider blogging on MySpace as "blogging". Anyway, I've had this weird fascination with morning talk show hosts lately. Kid Kraddick is one of them. I like to listen to everybody else on the show, though. Kid is pretty rude and cuts people off mid sentence. But Al! He cracks me up. Some people think he's pretty dumb, but it doesn't matter to me. He's funny and I'm always laughing my ass off on the way to work in the morning. Also, Jon and Deek crack me up. I am always busting a gut while trying to drive. So speaking of work. I love my job. Have I told you lately that I love my job? Well, let me tell you again! I love my job. Thank God for my son Greyson being born when he was. If it wasn't for him, I'd probably still be there! Ugh. Now I want to save all my friends that are left. I use to work for the Wal-Mart home office as an Art Director. I now see the light of day having crossed over to the light side. Amazing how life is so much more livable when you have less stress in your life. And speaking of work, again. I better start some of that right now...got to fill my coffee cup. Bye