Well, this summer has been interesting so far. It is the first in a while that I haven't been working and I have to say, not being patronized and not having my intelligence insulted at every turn has been... liberating, self-esteem boosting, all that jazz. I honestly don't know if I can work customer service anymore. I find myself having such disgust and automatic dislike of "the public" that I doubt I could keep my mouth shut like a good little employee.

So, instead, I've been attempting to think of plausible side projects to make money. I have always wanted to craft as a money-maker. So, I finally decided to try it. Thought process as follows:

1. You'll never know if you don't try.
2. You don't want to work customer service.
3. You are good at the crafty thing.
4. Repeat #1

So, as of a couple of days ago I am crafting. Right now it is a crochet blanket. I have spent about 12 dollars so far (thank the evil of walmart for cheap, but good yarn). I, however, have put quite a bit of effort (aka. hours) into it. Each row of color takes an hour to crochet. I have tried going really fast and I can do it in 50 minutes, but it gets sloppy, so an hour it is. I suspect that it will take approximately 40-50 hours to complete it. I am going to try Etsy to sell it, and if that fails, I actually know a couple of store owners in Sandpoint (the tourist capital of rich people looking for hand made goods) and I'll try to sell it there.

Otherwise, being here in Spokane is always stressful, people yelling, a grandpa who just doesn't understand what he is doing wrong, or even that he is doing anything wrong. We hide in the basement, which is just fine with me, lol, doing good on my online classes. We are usually up until 4-5 in the morning just to get so time to ourselves.

OOh, another project.. JAM! I am going to try to make cherry jam. We have a really big cherry tree in the backyard that usually has its fruits go to waste and I'm going to be harvesting here in a week or so. Wish me luck!

I have just had an amazing night's sleep. Combined with the "diet" meal plan that I have today, which is really just healthy food spread out throughout the day so that I don't feel tempted to buy a pizza or whatever, also combined with all the errands I have today = healthy andrea. I am actually looking forward to it.

Today is day of cleaning! I am going to be using vinegar, baking soda and all sorts of things that my grandmother or at least her mother probably used. I'm pretty sure that James gets some of his headaches from chemicals, so no chemicals!

I am going to be scrubbing the floor manually (I hate mops with a deathly passion and refuse to use the swiffer things that you throw away after every time). I will be organizing and cleaning and I'm pretty sure that I'm actually going to have the time of my life. I am so OCD. It seems to be becoming much more specific the longer that I live. Before it was just a general OCD, lining things up in a row etc... but now it is how I dry off after a shower, how I cut vegetables, how I pack my backpack for school. However, you would never know it from looking at my room. As OCD as I am, I am a ridiculously messy person. =/

So, I am angry and bitter about stuff today. I have a pretty cool snazzy phone that I got for a whopping 20 dollars when I was still working for Starbucks. It can take photos and videos and we are paying for unlimited texting which we used more when James wasn't living with me, but is now coming in handy because James has a new nephew along with a 2 year old neice and his mom is visiting and sending lots of pics and vids. Now, James's and my phone are getting full, I really don't feel like spending 20 bucks I could spend on food on an extra memory card that will just get full. Now, you would think that there would be an easy way to get the photos onto my computer so that I can look at them big and go oooh ahh the kids are so darn cute. Alas, there isn't.

I am now going down to Verizon to buy a 30 dollar kit to allow me to get the pics and vids off my phone. I don't want to buy it. However, since my first phone lasted about 5 years (the t-mobile representative from whom we ordered my second t-mobile phone was amazed), so I'm hoping this will be more of a investment on a piece of technology that will last me a while rather than just a purchase.

Grr... I don't want to buy more stuff. My room is small enough as it is.

EDIT: Well, apparently I am just technology illiterate. I can just email all the photos to myself, it doesn't cost anything extra, and since I have unlimited texting, now it is just a matter of spending the time to do it... But I still have too much stuff.

So that didn't work so well. I got busy, however, with something that actually was productive: midterms. I have my History of Film midterm today and I had to get a journal done that recorded all the things I watched, and let me tell you: I watch a lot of movies and tv shows. Not tv, though, I just watch the shows themselves usually in huge batches, like the buffy marathon that I'm currently going through. I had to find the director and production years for a lot of material. It actually didn't take me THAT long, but then I got obsessive compulsive and then it took me a lot longer. However, I can now claim that it is very pretty.

Also, I have offically lost 5 pounds. YAY! I have been below that mark for about a week so I'm going to actually call it good. If I lose another 5 pounds James has sworn to not only take me clothes shopping for new pants but also give me a shoulder massage once a week on a schedule. This actually applies for every 10 pounds that I'm planning on losing, to help keep me motivated. Since I'm planning on eventually losing about 60 pounds that means he will be giving me massages every night and I will have lots of clothes that actually fit me. Yay! Wish me luck!

So... I have been seriously thinking about starting a blog, that would be updated daily and be about collecting my thoughts on a a variety of subjects. In an attempt to see if this blog would be humanly possible for me, I am going to see if I can update this, my livejournal, daily for two weeks. If I can, then I will actually start coding my blog, and hopefully have it running pretty soon.

On a side note... another project that I have going is a "custom" keyboard business. I hate beige keyboards. I am completely radical about this subject. They show dirt, they look like they are from the 80s no matter when they were manufactured and are just ugly! So, sine my keyboard was in that ugly grunge phase of being used too much for too long, I decided to paint it. It is now a striking black with... RAINBOW keys! It looks fabulous if I do say so myself. Quite a few of mine and James' online friends expressed interest in it, and I did some research. I can't find any keyboard mods online that don't have some industrial purpose. So, painting keyboards might be my new "job" since I quit starbucks.

Poll: Split or normal keyboard?
Which do you prefer?

I'm am officially 20 years old today!

I don't neccesarily feel any different than yesterday, except I think I am getting a cold, lol. I don't want to be an adult yet, but everyone keeps asking if I feel like one. I have to say, being in Spokane again, going to the movies and seeing the hordes of teenaged girls with the diseases racoon-eye-black-makeup-brigade certainly makes me feel more mature than my age. I guess that is a good thing. I am able to turn up the adult when need be, and when I don't need it I can be as young as the next gamer girl. So, I am going to go eat a piece of my triple fudge chocolate cake, and who knows, maybe I'll try to smear some into James's hair =D. Which he is growing out for me, yay!

Also, I want to send universal thank you vibes to everyone who is wishing me a happy birthday. I don't need presents, I already have too much stuff, all I want for christmas is my two front teeth, wait, wrong season.... all I want is to be this healthy and happy next year and I want everyone in my life to be happy to. Feel free to drop me a line or two, I'd love to hear from you all.

so... I have completely neglected my journal, and my friends over the last few semesters. I'm hoping this post starts a good trend of actually letting people know what is going on in my life.

OMGWTFBBQPOLARBEAR!!~!1`1` school is over in approximately 3 and a half hours.

I am here, waiting for class to start and at the end of this class... that is it. No more homework for a glorious 3 months.

Teacher just came in, need to ask her something. Edit to tell more later.

I hate my fiancee right now. I hate myself right now. It is 11.30 at night and I don't want to wake anyone up. I feel like calling my mother for christ's sake, who I haven't talked about emotional issues to since the summer of 10th-11th grade year.

I said something stupid. Really stupid. But then again, he has too. I get so angry and defensive and I know that I shouldn't. I say things to blame him for things that are not his fault. He says things that make me so crazy and I can't understand how a smart boy like him can be so stupid. He gets so fucking self righteous and I am left, destroyed, crying, panicing that he is going to leave me. Why panicing? Because leaving me would mean him committing suicide. I am his "everything" and I am "all that he lives for". So what happens when he decides to leave me. I am still left feeling that I killed him by stupid words.

I am left apologizing to the air, while he takes the high road. Whenever I try to "fight back" I say that one stupid thing that lets him walk all over me. I try to maintain my anger. I end up crying and calling him 5 times, begging for forgiveness, while he thinks I am weak and pathetic and gets even angrier at me while forgiving me. God help me, I want to be stronger. I want to be a woman who can explain everything perfectly, and actually be intitled to her anger.

I'm not that woman. I say stupid things.

Training for my new job at starbucks tomorrow. In tears now, hyperventalating. Need to wake up in 7 hours. Enough sleep, yes, my eyes are going to look ridiculous. I will be there all tomorrow. All day. In my new job. Waiting for a call I can't take. Wondering how I'm going to get myself out of this mess. I want to go make myself throw up. Maybe if i get pretty he will never get angry at me.

Sorry. Just needed this out of my head.

</3 broken heart. shattered mind. optomistic orange. fuck.

Alrighty all of you who read this! I have a fun website to look at today:

http://www.findsatoshi.com/thefacts.html

Apparently, people all over the world are trying to find this man. Someone, somewhere, knows Satoshi and it is the world's job to find that person via word-of-mouth and internet and thus find the man himself.

SO... take a good look at the photo... tell your friends, especially your japanese ones...

and LET'S FIND SATOSHI!!!

Alrightly all you people out there that know things. =)

Community question:

I want to be able to access the communities i join quickly, but I really hate having them pop up under my "friends" page. Is there some section that i'm missing to do this. I tried not "watching" the community, but now i can't find the name or anything anywhere. *tear*

help the LJ newbie!!!

Alright
I am the geekiest person alive
Actually, James is more of a GEEK!!!

I HAVE A WII!!!!!!!!

James sat outside of our local Walmart since 2:30 pm this afternoon. He was the 19th person out of 20 to get a voucher for a nintendo wii.

19 out of 20

WALMART ONLY GOT 20 Wiis IN!!!!

I had work =( and only got there at about 8:30. I feel so bad. James was out there 6 hours without me. To give you an idea of temperature, it is now below freezing. Not below zero yet, thankfully, well in celcius i guess it would be =). Thankfully they brought us inside the garden center at 10pm, which was marginally warmer.

Of to PLAY OMG!!! ZELDA!!!!!

I'm ALIVE!!!

I keep trying to not post as I don't have much exciting or in fact happy at all news to tell. I finally decided even if i'm not happy i need to let people know i'm alive at least. So... Work is going crazy, slowed down a little bit now, but gearing up for Christmas. I'm starting to get really a bad attitude at work though. I get angry whenever a customer walks in, because they are disturbing what we are doing. All i want to do is put stock out from the back room, something that my obsessive compulsive self really likes doing. (By the way, my OCD is getting worse, but more on that later.) We play really kind of annoying music at work, but my coworkers and i find that you can enjoy any type of music, as long as you have the right mindset. One that we like particularly is ATTAAAACK of the Killer TOMATOES!!! Basically we play kids music because if we play anything else we get complaints (even for Christian music, which I don't think any one could complain about...). Learing is Fun is way too nice, and we will basically bend over backwards for anything the customer wants. Except the coupons!!! NO! I will NOT give you a discount because you left your coupon at home. I'm sorry, but I can't take your word on it!!! *pant pant* sorry =P
Oh! and we have nuns! Nuns are fun, but nuns with starbucks is better! I really wish I could have gotten a picture of that, three nuns walk into an educational store, one has a mocha, one has a tea and one has a strawberry frapachino. It made me so happy... but isn't that against the catholic law or something... it just doesn't seem correct and holy.

Other than that, things are getting pretty difficult around here. James' mom is digging herself into debt again, after her parents bailed her out two times before. James' grandfathers' dementia is getting worse, he doesn't make any sense anymore and gets really REALLY angry if you try to disagree with anything he says. Unfortuantely, he also feels the need to tell you that if you don't do something for him, that no one loves him and he should just die. They when you go and do whatever he wanted (mow the lawn, clean the garage etc..., he will come out and tell you how to do it exactly, and yell at you if you don't do everything exactly his way, which usually makes no sense beacuse of his dementia.... it is a fun catch 22. If I had been James and been living in this house for as long as he is, I honestly think I would have committed suicide. I have no idea how he has survived. I guess the idea that you are getting the two houses and the condo that the family owns once the grandfather dies helps a little bit.

So, I'm off to do homework. Going to take my two mid-term exams on Thursday, so I need to study. My manager fran is proctoring for me, and said I couldn't get any fortune cookies until I finish my exams (we have a big costco bag of cookies on the back table =) ).. she is a hard task-master.

Ciao

I GOT MY LICENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay

zoom zoom zoom

well i think i have finally gotten my life settled a little bit. tired and work in the morning so i'll do bullet points. yay i love bullet points!

-gotten storage situation sorted out. Even though I would really love to get some of my stuff, i don't neccesarily need it and the cheapest option is just to store it for the next semester. gah i want a higher paying job to pay for stuff. lol

-at my job we are finally getting a bit over the back to school rush, so it isn't quite so crazy, which is bringing my stress levels down.

-got a couple of doctory stuff out of the way. I still want to get a back upgrade someday. Andrea v.1.2 =D Apparently, they actually have back hardware now that allows the back to bend normally. I kind of want to know what that feels like again.

ummmmm i'm sure there is stuff i'm forgetting but oh well.

I have finally decided to stay in Spokane through next semester. Needless to say, my mother almost disowned me, so I fear things are going to get a little interesting for the rest of my school career. She seems to be cooling off (3 weeks later) but I have a feeling not much is going to be the same again.

I know this is going to throw a lot of things off (Bri and Tora) and I'm sorry. But I'll be back next semester, and who knows? maybe meredith and all of us can find a cool place all together. YAY ! slumber party =P.

By the way =) i'll be in SF at the beginning of the semester to get my stuff out of the way, so if anyone needs help moving in/finding apartments etc.. I'll be there =). And who knows, I might decend upon you like a hurricane after midterms and stay a couple of days =D.

Wow how time flies huh?

WELLLLL. I got a job at "Learning is Fun", an educational supply store. Sounds perfect for me =), or so people say. It is just a normal retail job, but everyone there is almost creepy friendly *breaks out into creepy girl song*, so I am liking it. I am NOT looking forward to back to school season , apparently it just gets insane as all the teachers try to buy new work books, bulletin board sets etc...

I haven't actually gotten my first pay check yet, but right now the one luxury item that I told myself that I would buy with that first pay check is sitting in a list of about 20 items including:

T-shirts from think-geek.com
Fable collections
Batman collections
Mirrormask (yes tora, i neeeeeeed my own copy, i've been dieing to watch it again =P)
LOTS of other movies
well you guys get the picture =P

Currently taking suggestions for items to buy with my fist pay check. Feel free to post.

okay, so after about week of playing housekeeper/chauffeur (have my permit and am really the only one in this house that should be driving except james) I AM BORED OUT OF MY MIND!!! Why can't i just relax and enjoy the vacation?!?! oh, because i'm me =P

but anyways job hunting is hard, especially here because to get any applications i have to drive at least 15 mins (james is in the "suburbs"... well more "rural" area of spokane)but i refuse to gets my hopes down. Right now i am aiming for a place called "Learning is Fun". LOL sounds like me huh? It is pretty close by and they are looking for part time workers during regular hours (a lot of the places I was looking at were asking for night time or WAAAAY early hours) Sooooo it sounds perfect. No discount on cool electronics, but with james putting in 15 hour days and getting 10 and hour plus overtime =D he said he'd help me build a new comp.

OH oh! i didn't tell you guys last time =D my comp got smashed =D not to the point where it doesn't work, but just so the case looks reallllly ghetto.

ummm, thinking of more news.... but... i can't think of anything.

i'll try to post some pics up next time of places and things and people. =)

SOooooos,
I'm at James again for the summer. I'm so thankful for all of my friends (Bri, Tora, Meri(that seems like a silly contraction, but i'm just going to go with it)) that helped me get home so quickly.
THANK YOU
I have been having a three year old attached to my leg for a while these last couple of days, thankfully today she entered preschool today, so no more chasing her around the backyard for 45 minutes at a time.
I'm off, I should probably call best buy and get a job =P.

almost done with the semester and more importantly ALMOST DONE WITH MY ANIMATION !!! yayyyyyy!

Almost this entire semester it has been like I had a full time job doing this animation, and although it does disappoint some, I think I will try to work on it this summer. I think the story is promising, and it would just be a matter of making it look prettier. Because, as my school's advertisment campaign around the city of San Francisco states: we must "UNITE AGAINST UGLY!"
May I just say that I think that is possibly the best university ad that I had ever seen. Now our commercials on TV on the other hand. Those are quite amazing in their stupidity and ugliness. We started as an advertising school. You really think we could do better.

I have a couple of new bands that I think i'm going to buy the cds of:
Panic at the Disco
Sarah Brightman (CD: Eden)
Cascada
I'll try to get them and I might be recommending them to people.

Oh! Recommendation of Comic: RED SON (superman comic):
What if superman had landed on the earth a mere 12 hours later, landing in the communist ukraine instead of in kansas. Amazing writing, brilliant idea, read it if you can, it has some very interesting points.