It's getting dark and snowy outside. I'm the only one home, and all my lights are off, save the Christmas lights and a few candles in my room.

It's so nice and quiet. I love my roommates, but there is just something nice about an empty house every now and then. It's cozy...a different kind of cozy then the hectic cozy of having everyone home and milling about.

One roommate will be home in about 45 minutes, the rest are out and about at work or away for the weekend. I have nothing productive to do this afternoon, so I'm just going to enjoy the quiet.

It's time for randomness!

Ice has melted enough and it's not snowing right-this-second that I'm going to go do my Christmas shopping. It should be madness, I look forward to it.

Happy Birthday to Michael. Have a good one.

There are cats living under my house, and I'll let them, because this is the most depressing song ever.

Off I go!

The Roommates and I are gearing up for the start of a pretty major winter storm. We've already seen some snow (a few inches, most of which fell on my birthday, a great present if you ask me) and a lot of ice, but it's supposed to get worse.

We've got a couple of winter storm warnings issued for our area: freezing rain, snow, ice, frozen ta-tas. You know how it is.

It's snowing out right now, I was going to put up some more outside lights but I just can't bring myself to open the front door and go out there for two hours while my fingers turn black and fall off. Instead, I updated IBOM for winter with an old favorite layout, and doing some putting around online.

I've got books to read, movies to watch, games to play, stuff to bake, and some pretty good company to do it with. To top it all off I've got 19 days of vacation left and no place to be.

Let it friggin' snow.

Dear Neighbors,

Do you ever get tired of yelling? Sometimes I get tired of listening to you.

Sincerely,
The Quiet Neighbor Next Door

Went back to work at The Book Place yesterday, I'm in Customer Service proper this time around, and so I spent a half-day yesterday in training. The rest of this week is half-day trainings as well. Unfortunately 99% of what I'm being trained to do I already know how to do, so it's a bit repetitive. But I'm getting paid to sit around and listen to someone talk, so I can't complain about that.

My Co-ML Hannah is also working there, which I think is going to be a lot of fun. She's such a great person and I really think she'll like the job.

I picked up my SH ID yesterday. I'm now official and can magically open locked doors with the power of my badge. What's super dorky is I'll probably swipe cards, just to see if I can get the doors to open. I'm on my ER shift starting next week, and I hope to start my First Aid/CPR/AED trainer training next week as well.

My living room looks like a storage unit vomited on it. I'm going through everything for a fund raising sale that I'm organizing for later in August, and trying to get some stuff together (six boxes so far, people) of stuff to donate to it. If you're local and have things that you want to donate to help our NaNoWriMo Region raise some funds to function this fall, send me a note and let me know. We'll come pick it up and your donation is tax deductible.

Crunchyroll and I are currently having a love affair. If you've never been to CR you should check it out. It's a site where you can stream all sorts off good stuff from Asia. Dramas, Movies, Anime, and they've got tons of it, so there is always lots of hot Asian guys...I mean, stuff to watch. All happy and subtitled so I know what's going on, which is pretty important I guess. I mean, when I'm paying attention and not drooling over the cute actors.

I've been watching Dramas all summer. There are so many pages of them that I feel like I'll never catch up. It's alright though, because most of it is better then 90% of what's on TV this summer anyway. The summaries of some of the shows are strange and vague at times, so I've found that watching the first couple of episodes is the only way to decide on if a series is worth finishing or not. Watch out for the comments too, they're often no help and full of spoilers.

If you're looking for something to start you out in the wide world of ADramas, I recommend these five, which are my current top five favorite of all time:

5) Nodame Cantabile - Adorable and funny JDrama about a student at a music school who falls in a crazy obsessive love with another student, and their struggles with life, school and their futures.



4) Devil Beside You - Girl gives love letter to wrong guy, girl falls for guy, girl finds out guy is future step-brother. Antics, angst, great acting and a sweet love story ensue. I'm a sucker for the romances, what can I say?



3) H2 - Unfortunately this has been removed from CR, but it's still a great story and if you can find it, I recommend watching it. Lots of good comedy, romance (sorry guys) and sports (there! See! I'm not a complete lost cause).



2) Hana Kimi (Hanazakari no Kimitachi e) - Mizuki Ashiya, a Japanese girl from America, idolizes Izumi Sano, a high jumper from Japan. He quits the high jump, however, and Ashiya decides to disguise herself as a boy to attend the all-boys school in Japan he goes to, and convince him to jump again. This one is too cute.




1) Hana Yori Dango 1 & 2 - Also been removed from CR (cry) but can be watched elsewhere if you're crafty with Google. This is my current all time favorite series. Both seasons are great. A story about a poor girl who attends a rich school and gets targeted by rich boys who run the school. It eventually develops into good time angst romance. Yay! Watch in small doses, otherwise your heart might not take all the crying and gooshyness.



I also recommend Lunch Queen, Nobuta Wo Produce, Attention Please, Great Teacher Onizuka and It Started With A Kiss and it's second season. So turn off the bad summer reality shows, and watch cute cute Asian Dramas. You'll thank me, I promise.

I'm off to finally get my ID badge made for the Red Cross, I also have a meeting to get all situated to start my training to be a First Aid/CPR/AED trainer. I'm very excited about it, I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

I have about five hours of emergency response training next Tuesday, which I think is going to be really interesting and informative. I've got 35 hours left after these five before I can be a national responder, which is my goal. Until then, I can do local and state response.

I worked canteen on Monday and I met a really nice lady who gave me the contact number for the State Hospital's volunteer coordinator. So what did I do? I called of course.

Anything to keep me busy and out of trouble, right?

I have Bookbyte training on Wednesday, so then I'll be back to work there. I need the money, and it's time to go back to work anyway. I'm sad that I'm losing all my volunteer time, but I'll just move everything back into the evenings and it should all work out.

So my Co-ML Hannah and I are running errands today to try and get the prep for Sunday's Off-Season BBQ of Awesomeness done. We think we're going with a luau theme, maybe. Nothing says fun like a bunch of neurotic (no, I don't really think you guys are neurotic) writers skulking around in grass skirts and coconut bras. It's going to be good times.

You can still join us if you're interested. We'll be in Bush's Pasture Park at 1:00 on Sunday, at the far end opposite the Crooked House Playground.

So I took a leap today and met with the person who would be my adviser for Biology/Pre-Med at a different college, and talked to him about getting away from the horrid, evil cesspool that is The Current College and transferring to theirs.

It was an amazing meeting. He was very supportive and genuinely interested, which is a complete 180 from the person who is 'advising' me now at TCC. All I've ever gotten from him is the feeling that I'm inadequate, unable to do it, and that he feels like I'm a waste of his time.

Just the general atmosphere of The Different College was lovely. It's a smaller school, so the class sizes are about five times smaller then TCC. I feel like I learn better in a class where the teacher knows I exist and actually cares that I'm there.

So he started a file for me (even though I'm not even enrolled) and said to get enrolled and that he'd meet with me again in a couple of weeks to figure out my classes and help me set up a plan. So, I'm putting in my application this week (I've already sent my FAid papers over) and then I'm going to formally withdrawl from TCC. I'm so excited about it, I feel so much better that TDC is the school for me.

He also eluded that I wouldn't have to transfer my one-term crap grades from TCC, which is awesome, because everything that I ever had to do with that college just needs to stay there, and they can suck it.

I was in a local private practice Peds clinic today. It was a completely different feel (obviously) then Peds at a hospital, since most of the children at the clinic were there for well baby check-ups or ear aches, while the children at Peds in the Hospital are there because they're not not doing so hot or because their clinic sent them over.

I was there for about four hours, and in that span of time the doctor I was with saw about 20 or so patients. Mostly ear aches and sniffles, which is what I figured would be pretty common.

It was very interesting and informative, and what amused me the most is the majority of the complains I heard from staff were a direct result of the parents. I had childcare flashbacks, parents overreacting, parents bringing drama in, parents, parents, parents, parents. Ah, you got to love them, right?

As I followed my Doc around, I realized that there is absolutely no reason why I can't do what he does, and I've already got the experience in dealing with crazy parents, so give me Med School and I'll be good to go.

Behind my house there are two storage units. Not the pre-fab sheds that lots of people have, and not garages, but two tiny house-like buildings that I don't use because they're dirty, home to stray cats, and I'm pretty sure they've been broken into and I'd like to keep my stuff, as crappy as it is, not have it sold for Meth money.

I was outside today trying to get my yard (which is a mess, let me tell you. It's what I get for not doing it sooner) into shape, and there were these conversations coming from one of the locked storage sheds. So either a) someone has a key and is living/hanging out in them, b) I'm insane and hearing things, or c) my neighbors next door were sitting on the other side of the storage shed talking and I just couldn't see them.

I'm hoping for C, but A is always an option. The key to the shed is floating around my neighborhood (it's a long story, but one of the many reasons I won't store my stuff in there. I'm two seconds away from stripping the locks off them and buying my own) so there is a possibility that someone has they key, and hangs out in there. There is a bolt lock, so it can be locked from the inside, and since I don't have the key, I can't open it and check to see if anyone is inside.

A few weeks ago my neighbors told me they saw some people trying to get in there, and that they've seen a 'man with a bag pack' banging on the doors and walls of the shed a few times while I wasn't home. I've already told my landlord if I catch anyone in my yard, regardless of if they have a key to the shed or not, I'll pop them for trespassing. Nobody has any reason to be inside my fence but me, and nobody has any business in my storage sheds at all.

I came home early today from Booth-Sitting at the Saturday Market with the most amazing migraine behind my left eye. I couldn't sit out in the heat and bright sunshine without feeling like I was going to die and vomit all over the customers. I skipped out about 10:30 this morning. I'm attributing it to the heat and the fact that sleeping isn't something I've done much of in days. I fell asleep about a half-hour after I got home, and practically slept my entire life away. My temple is still throbbing, and rapid eye movement is painful, but it's better now.

Sleep, it's magically delicious, you know?

I should utilize the rest of the weekend to cleaning my house and doing yard work. It's just so hard to drag myself around to do anything when the temperatures are pushing the 100's.

We're supposed to have thunder storms tomorrow night. We rarely get them, so here's hoping.

There is a completely different feel in the Mother & Baby Unit then there is in Peds. Maybe it's the reason behind why people are where they are. You know, new baby vs. sick baby, but it could also be the fact that the air conditioner in M&B was working or that it had windows. Peds was like walking around a stuffy old grandma house, M&B was open and cool. Everyone smiling and chatting me up. Everyone in Peds was rushed, tight and worried.

I was at M&B for two hours today. Babies are too cute for their own good. The person I was stalking only had three 'couplets' as they call them, so although it was slightly slow, it was still very informative.

Once again, while I was leaving, the interesting stuff happened. One of the babies was being sent down to the NICU. It was a bummer for two reasons: the first being that the baby needed to go to NICU, and the second being that I missed being able to see it.

I'm at a neighborhood Pediatric clinic on Monday for five hours. It'll be interesting to see how a Peds clinic differs from Peds at the hospital.

Shadowing is awkward. Mostly because I always feel awkward, and new situations never make me feel more at ease. I'm not stealthy or sneaky enough to pretend like a spy tailing a target, I'm more like a old, blinded, three-legged jungle cat trying to catch my dinner and just can't quite get it. The sad part? Whatever it is I'm trying it catch is right in front of me on the ground with a broken leg.

I was in Peds yesterday, following around an RN who was kind enough to put up with me for the afternoon. I got the impression I was her first shadow, so much like waking up next to someone you don't remember bringing home, I think it was just as awkward and strange for her as it was for me.

I enjoyed it though - the shadowing, not strangers in my bed in the morning (although it has it's moments). The floor was very quiet, with only a few patients admitted, and most of them were sleeping, so we had some very enlightening conversations about equipment and procedures. She walked through an entire admit, and explained all of the paper work and that was a good learning experience, as I'd never seen the boring paper-pushing office side of the hospital. I am always amazed at how much work Nurses do and how little respect and appreciation they really get. Someday when I have a clinic of my own, I shall throw the nurses parties every Friday, encourage them to wear tiaras, and bring them cookies shaped like hearts.

I'm in Mother & Baby this afternoon, which I'm looking forward to. Not just to scope out which babies will sell well on the black market (and with my newly acquired information on how the Hugs infant protection system works, I'll be filching babies in no time) but also because babies are cute, and I love them...in pie.

Our new Regional website for National Novel Writing Month has opened. Go visit Plot Box of Doom, and join the Forum.

It took me ages to finally get it completed, but I'm happy with the design and I think it will work well as a home-away-from-home for our Wrimos. Plus, it will make stalking them so much easier.

It's been a long few days. I had a family emergency on Saturday, and now I'm out of town helping out. I haven't slept since a bit Saturday night so I'm a little loopy.

Things are a little better, and I should be able to return home tomorrow evening or Thursday at the latest. I brought my homework along with me but of course I'm not getting any of it done. I'm going to have to bust my tuckus over the next few days. I've got a test in Trig on the 11th and I'm not really steady on the concepts. I'd rather not bomb this one, because then I'd have to retake Trig and that's just sick.

Happy Super Fat Tuesday to all of you. What are my predictions on this day of caucuses and over-indulgence before Lent?

I think there will be a sweep for the Republican candidate, and a crazy close race for the Democrat, that probably won't have a 'winner' so to speak. Also, there will be many drunk people, and not just because it's Mardi Gras.

I have a meeting in about an hour. It's a super secret meeting about super secret things I haven't told a single person. I'm very excited about these super secret things, but not so excited as to jinx it. Not that telling anyone would jinx it, or anything. I mean, you guys aren't bad luck, that's not what I mean. What I mean is, sometimes these things are better left in the dark at the beginning. Also, suspense keeps you Figments coming back, and if you stopped coming here, then who would I talk to when I'm all alone?

So, if this meeting goes the way I want it to, and then if all my cute fluffy baby ducks fall in a huggable row, I'll tell people. If not, then I'll sulk in private. Sound good? Good.

HoTD:

This is your fault, Pran.
Cute Overload is meanness,
It's akin to crack.

Ach, I suck.

However, I feel a new layout coming on and along with that some happy tasty fine content. You'll be proud, I promise.

Until then, you get crap. Excited? Me too.

I finished Year Of Wonders: A Novel of The Plague by Geraldine Brooks last night. The novel is about a village in 1666 that is infested with the Plague thanks to a bolt of infected cloth brought in by a tailor. In order to keep the Plague from spreading to the nearby villages, the Rector of the town convinces the people the best thing to do is to self-quarantine.

The village decides to do so, and then has to deal with all of the harshness of the plague, social injustice, and religious extremes all while being prisoners of their own town. The novels protagonist is Anna, barely 18 and a widower with two children, she loses everything she had to the plague, but finds the courage to come out of it a stronger and completely different person then she ever thought possible.

The novel was very well written, and I enjoyed it up until the last chapter, which had a 'twist' that to me felt out of place and rushed, and not entirely possible in the way that it was set. Not that the character couldn't have developed into what she became, but it was still a stretch. Not that this makes it a bad novel by any means.

I recommend it if you're looking for a well written, emotionally charged something to entertain you instead of doing Trig homework...I mean, you know, instead of doing whatever, laundry or weeding.

Year Of Wonders: A Novel of The Plague

Rated:

Four and a half Duckie-Wuckies out of five. Don't judge the ducks, people.

Further proof that Huckabee is a nut job.

I have more to say on this, but it has to wait until later.

Yesterday was Savvy's birthday. On Saturday we threw her a little party, there were only four of us, so we went out to Sushi and goofed off all evening. Yesterday her birthday wish was to go sit in the theater and watch a bunch of movies she hasn't had time to go see, so her and I went to a couple of theaters and I bought her tickets to four movies.

We saw P.S. I love you (and bawled), I Am Legend, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Enchanted. I also bought her dinner. She said she had a good time, and it was nice to just blow a whole day doing nothing productive at all.

Happy Birthday Sav!