.:reflections of twilight:.

It seems as if I can't hold onto my friendships as of late. First it was the girl that I had been friends with since childhood that turned into a bitter and angry person and so I voluntarily cut ties with her. Now, it's a good friend whom I haven't known as long and we now have differing philosophies that are coming between us.

It started on Sunday when I posted on my Facebook page an image I saw that another friend of mine posted in regards to religious extremists (I forget the exact wording that was used). I added that I thought any sort of extremist, including religious extremists like Christians, Muslims and even Jews, were dangerous. I received a rather terse comment back:

Wow. This is really so wrong. You do realize he (John Cleese) is a Socialist? The same group that Marxist and true extremist come from? And, the link is from an atheist group does not surprise me. They are the same groups that want to kill anyone that does not agree with them... Jews, Christians, anyone that follows God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And, you're agreeing with it? I pray for your eyes to be opened. This is a dangerous path you're following.

She never used to be this narrow minded and unreasonable. She follows the Messianic Judaism teachings and an ultra-Conservative one at that. I didn't reply back because I didn't want to start a flame war on my Facebook page, but I'm not going to delete it either. I do thank coastal_spirit for leaving a nice comment that agreed with me (although I did warn her that there might be an inflammatory return comment).

Now, she's being very passive-aggressive in her own Facebook postings and posting all kinds of diatribes and verses and passages that support her view like she's going to change my mind or something. It's very disappointing.

The think is, she never used to be like this until she got married and got more and more involved with this way of thinking and the ultra-Conservative, survivalist, homesteading point-of-view. Mom and I used to have a lot of fun with her and her husband before this all got started and now all that's changed! it's also affecting mom at work since mom and her work together and she's been giving mom the cold shoulder. My mom has nothing to do with it! Maybe it's because my mom agrees with me? She never public said so on the post, but she told me in private she thinks I have a good point.

I'd hate to lose the friendship, but if it's meant to be, maybe I should just let it happen? Sometimes relationships with others aren't meant to be forever. Sometimes someone is in your life only for a certain amount of time and then it's time for them to leave. Although it would be a shame since she's one of the few people around here we know...

I'm not going to end things just yet. I'll ride it out and see how it goes and if it can't be saved, I guess it's really the end.

I do have a year in review post coming, but it's taking me longer to put together than I thought, so it'll get posted whenever I have a chance.

Classes start on Thursday, and I'm trying not to go into panic mode about it. My Anxiety does not like doing new, unknown things and so it has to start showing up about now. I think once I get my new routine in place, things will calm down. A primary concern is money related, of course. I decided that I needed to have some money in order to get books and supplies and such since my GA position only covers tuition. I'm pretty sure I filled out everything I was supposed to, but I haven't heard anything about dispersal as of yet, and it's starting to worry me a little since I need to get books and supplies before Thursday.

I also haven't heard back about when and what time I start my GA job. I just love all of this bureaucracy involved in going to Grad School. I just have to keep focused and hope that it'll all pay off in the end. I email my professors to keep them in the loop, which is basically all I can do at this point. I had to fill out a paper in regards to the status of my residency. Most likely because since the school is paying for my tuition, they want to do it at a lower cost with me as an 'in-state' resident.

And February will be ten years since I started this journal. Looking back, it's interesting to see my growth as a person and a 'writer' of sorts. I may do something to commemorate as of yet, but I don't know what.

I did finally get to see Frozen and The Hobbit 2 a few weeks ago. I really liked both of them and will likely see them again at some point.

I still plan on sending out New Year letters, once I get my student loan and can afford to print them off, that is. I also hope to get my car tuned up and possibly a new washer and dryer since our old ones are shot. I know it's not 'technically' a school related expense, but clean clothes are an important priority, I think.

I also hope to be able to find a decent health insurance, either through the school or independent company since I need to restart my Remicade treatment again. I've been lucky enough that I haven't had any major health issues (aside from the pneumonia a few months ago), so I haven't needed to seek medical treatment. My medications seem to be doing the trick, I just hope I can get coverage before I run out. I just LOVE the healthcare issues in this country, but I'm not gonna get into that here.

I'm trying to find more time to read than I have been, since I miss it and there are a lot of books I'd like to catch up on, not to mention the school related reading I'll have to do. Frankly, I wish I had more time to do a lot more things, but I don't and I have to try and deal with it as best that I can.

It's late and I should get to bed probably. I'll try to work on the YIR post I've been working on so I can finally get it posted and to also take down the Christmas decorations once and for all.

I gotta say, I've been jumping through so many hoops these past few days, I feel like I should join a circus.

Apparently there are absolutely no records of me having gotten my MMR immunizations from when I went to undergrad. I know for certain I had boosters done in '99, but UCF doesn't keep records longer than seven years. Naturally I can't sign up for my final class unless I have this dealt with, as I explained in more detail in my last post.

We searched high and low (literally, since we have files both upstairs and in the basement) for these damn things, only to come up empty. So I thought I'd go and get the MMR Titer test done so that they can see that I did indeed get my immunizations, only to discover that they damn thing costs $107.00! Screw that!!

So, I thought I'd just bite the bullet and go to the Health Department and get immunized again so that there can be documentation that I'm not riddled with disease. I called them (which I loathe since I have to talk on the phone with my voice the way it is) and talked to someone who made me an 'appointment' for today at 9:00.

I show up, and after it took them awhile to even find me in the system (turns out whoever I talked to on the phone took down my birth date wrong), I discovered my appointment wasn't until TOMORROW at 9:00.

Now, I distinctly heard the lady on the phone say "Tuesday at 9:00", which I even put in my calendar on my phone so I'd remember. How the hell they had me down for tomorrow I'll never even know.

And now I have to traipse alllll the way back to the health department tomorrow to get injections which I've had twice already, then haul ass back to the school so that they can have documentation that I did all of this, just so I can FINALLY finish registering for classes and am eligible for the GA job I'm pretty sure is in the bag. That is, if this whole debacle hasn't sabotaged my chances.

*siiiiiiiiiigh*

I just gotta keep focus on the larger goal here, which is to get my Master's Degree and have a career that I actually might enjoy rather than a soul killing job.

Then I find out that the kid who shot up his school in Colorado this past week was looking for the school librarian... Fantastic.

Remind me not to head the debate team.

In better news, I did manage to get the Christmas tree up and decorated a mere eleven days before Christmas. Which means it'll probably stay up until April.



And no, it's not crooked. It's just the angle at which I took the picture.

I'll probably not be able to send out the letters until the New Year, since I need to buy ink so I can print them off. Maybe next year I can actually send out cards instead of lame-o letters...

First of all, I am MASSIVELY annoyed with my computer right now. For some reason, the power cord doesn't want to make a connection so it's using the battery which tends to lose power fairly quickly. I haven't figure out why it does this, but it seems that even if I make the slightest movement, it disconnects. Maybe the power cord is bad or something. I don't know really. (ETA: Yeah, it IS the power cord. I'm using mom's right now).

So, I have to retype my post that I was working on before since I had to restart my computer, and I never have the wherewithal to actually SAVE the drafts to my client. *grumble*

I've been accepted into Graduate School!

Granted, it's a conditional acceptance. Basically, it means I have to get a 3.0 or above during my first 12 credit hours (basically two semesters). I'm pretty sure I can do it if I put my mind to it. I'm a little out of practice, but it'll probably come back to me. So now I have to go to the campus and get my ID and parking permit and all of that jazz. Classes start on the 16th, and I need to get my financial aid straightened out before that. I have an interview on Tuesday for a GA position, and if I get it, the school will pay for my tuition for a semester, which will help a lot! Since I'm technically an 'out of state' student until June, it'd be more per credit hour. But, if I get the GA position, then the following Fall I'd be an 'in state' student and the tuition would be a lot less. Plus, I'd get a monthly stipend which will help tremendously.

If I do get the GA job, I'd have to be on campus for 20 hours a week, which I can handle I think. I used to work 40 hours a week at my old job, so this will probably four hours or so per day. I don't know what it entails to be a GA, but I'm assuming it'll be to help out the professor I'm placed with. I guess we'll find out...

I'll also need to learn to drive in the wintertime since I'll have to be on campus for the job. My classes are all online, so that won't be a problem.

Mom's been laid up for a week with some sort of viral infection. We think she got it during Thanksgiving. The husband of our hostess was feeling under the weather that day which they had initially attributed to food poisoning. Later on, it was found out that there was an 'epidemic' of sorts going on at her work, which is where it likely came from. I just hope she feels better by the time she starts work on the 16th. Ideally before that since she has to go for her drug testing on Monday. Plus, she'd just like to feel better.

We've been having some weird weather recently. Yesterday I was able to wash the car outside while I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Of course, the hose had dry rot, so I had to rinse the car with buckets of water. Mom had forgotten that since we moved up here now, that the hose needs to be brought inside for fall and winter. Oops.

I finished typing up my Holiday letter, now I just need to get some more ink in order to print it off. If you still want one, just let me know, and I'll drop one in the mail. You can give me your address via email or drop me a message. If you'd like mine, let me know, and I'll send a message.

I'm currently rereading High School Debut for the umpteenth time. I love it. It's so adorable. There are a few orphaned series that I wish would've been bought by another company, or seen continued. Like Sky Blue Shore form TokyoPop. But, since they stopped publishing manga (or most of it anyway), it was discontinued after only two volumes. It's a shame. I started to like that series and I can't find any translations of it anywhere. Another series that was stopped (bizarrely with only two volumes left to go), was Papillion published by Kondansha. When they switched ownership, they dropped it for some reason. I kinda wish they'd at least have published the remaining volumes so it would be a completed series.

Farewell for now!

• I sometimes fancy myself as a hobbyist photographer. My mom gave me one of her older cameras for me to use and I'm trying to get the hang of it still.

( the rest... )

I think for some of them I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, but they're all true!

I broke my Facebook and Twitter hiatus today officially. I'm gonna ease my way back in and try not to be on quite as long or check in as often as I did. That way I can still have more time to do other things also.

I had a meeting with the Dean of graduate studies, the Assistant Dean and the head of the department of the program I wish to apply to yesterday afternoon. I think things went pretty well. I didn't freeze up or stumble over my words like I tend to do when talking to people of authority. I said my main concern was that my GRE Quantitative scores would probably not be all that high due to my learning disability and that I didn't want it to hinder my acceptance. They eased my concerns and said that the scores were only a fraction of what they take into consideration when admitting students and that based on my other information it probably wouldn't be difficult for me to get in the program. The head of the program also said that the only math-based course I'd be taking was more of a Statistics type course and that if I register with the students with disabilities office, I could get the additional help I needed (which I had planned to do anyway). They do have a copy of my testing that I had done when I was in Community College, so that will help also.

I made an appointment to take the GRE for next Thursday for 1:30 in the afternoon. It's in Bristol since there were no openings on the campus for anytime in November. It's about 45 or so minutes away, and we need to be there a half an hour beforehand so I can register. So, hopefully my mind won't go blank when it comes to actually take the test. And it takes a total of four hours to take it, with a ten minute break halfway through. It'll be a loooong afternoon.

The weather is gonna take a dip for a few days next week. Enough that we may even get frost and even snow. I do need to see about getting some winter clothes in the near future. Mostly thermal undies and some boots and coats. It will be kind of nice to have a Christmas that actually feels Christmasy though.

We're trying to conserve gas, so we haven't been going very many places, and it can get kind of boring after awhile to be stuck inside the house all day. Hopefully mom will be able to find a job soon so that we can have some income coming in and actually afford to do more things around here. Here's hoping for the best!!

Well, I know I said in my last post that I had a bad case of bronchitis. Turns out, it was much worse. I have full blown pneumonia.

After all of the hullabaloo at the Urgent Care Center, I was still coughing by the end of the week and all the antibiotics I was taking were doing was giving me diarrhea, so mom and I went on Monday to the Urgent Care place we had originally wanted to go to (but didn't since they were closed). I was still examined by a Nurse Practitioner, but this one seemed to be a bit more on the ball than the previous one.

She listened to my chest and then had me take a chest x-ray, which was why mom had wanted me to go there in the first place. After waiting for what seemed to be an eternity for the results, she came in and declared I most definitely had pneumonia. She described it as a communal case, which means I got it while being surrounded by a massive crowd of people.

So, yes. Dragon*Con gave me pneumonia...

She prescribed some Levaquin as well as an inhaler and a cough suppressant. My insurance paid for the Levaquin... not so much for the others. So I had to make do.

I took one of the Levaquin as soon as I got home, and by the evening, I felt a marked improvement. Not enough where I could try to Skype my dad for his birthday yesterday since I kept losing my voice and unable to speak much above a whisper lest my lungs start bitching me out.

However, this was not the end of the happy fun times. Oh no. I woke up this morning with a nice bright rash all over my chest, arms, neck and face. Guess I'm allergic to the Levaquin. Luckily this rash doesn't itch like the one I got when I was on Diflucan. It's still rather an annoyance. The NP wanted me to come back in a couple of days anyway for a bit of a follow-up. Good thing, too. I could get my meds switched... again, and deal with this rash I now have.

So, luckily my insurance WILL cover the new meds and I get to take Benadryl for the next few days to try and be rid of the rash. I swear to God, this thing better be resolved soon. My health and I are not the best of friends right at this moment. Plus, it's officially Autumn now, and there are fun things to do on the horizon. Like Fall Festivals and corn mazes and pumpkin patches to romp through!

Hopefully all of this home care will prevent me from winding up in the hospital, because I definitely don't wanna be stuck with the bill for THAT!

On the school front, there are only a few things I need to do before I can officially hand in my application for the Spring 2014 semester. I'm hoping that things will fall into place since I don't really have much of a back-up plan unless get another dead end job that I loathe.

I guess it's a good thing I'm not working now since I've been practically bedridden for almost two weeks and now I look like I have the Plague.

I love my life...

I had a very pleasant Fourth of July weekend. Mom and I did our traditional watching of 1776 in the morning and later that afternoon we went to a really neat museum called Rocky Mount Living History Museum. There's a house on the property that belonged to one of the early settlers in the area. It was really interesting, and I learned a few new things actually.

Friday we went with a friend of ours to eat lunch as the local German restaurant located in the historic downtown district (which is really neat in and of itself) and then went to see The Lone Ranger.

Saturday I chilled out basically while mom was getting over a stomachache from the night before. She was feeling better later on and we went to eat at a cool family style restaurant called The Farmer's Daughter. The way they serve the food is that you choose two meats and they bring those out as well as the sides for that day. It also includes deserts, which most everybody else had to take home except for me since I didn't have as many sides. Being a picky eater can sometimes have it's advantages.

Next door to the restaurant is a bulk food store that has a lot of good prices for homemade goods, like jams and bread mixes and the like. They also have all kinds of cooking ingredients like spices and various types of flours and herbs. Mom and I bought a few things while we were in there.

Sunday was our second Sunday at the church we've been going to. I like it so far. We talked with the minister for a bit after the service, and he was very personable. Afterward, mom and I wanted to check out the local mall to see what sort of stores they had to offer, and there were quite a few I recognized, there were some others that weren't in the mall back in Florida. I think once I get a job, I'll go there to update some of my wardrobe. I've been wearing the same shirts for awhile, and I need a bit of a variety.

Speaking of jobs, there's one at the university library that looks promising that I'm in the midst of applying for. All that's left to do is getting my college transcripts and attach them to the application. So, hopefully it won't take too long to get all of that straightened out. There's no guarantee they'll even consider me, but hopefully I'll be in the system and maybe I'll be considered for other jobs. It involves computers, but even though I'm not ignorant when it comes to computers, it's something that I need to know Linux for and if I am looked at, maybe it's something I can learn. *crosses fingers*

Well, here I am, laying on my bed in my new bedroom in Tennessee. It's very nice. It seems bigger than my other room in Florida, but it could be because I don't have as much in it as I did down there. Mostly because there's not really the room for it, but also because it's set up a little differently.

I will say this, though. I never want to move again for a loooooooong time. It's really the worst. The day we loaded, last Thursday, was hot as hell and a little scattered. But, we had mostly teenagers helping out and they tend to not be the most responsible group. Still, they got the job done. I didn't do a lot of the physical stuff due to my back wanting to give out on me and the temperature. I mostly directed the guys moving and packed up a few last minute things. The girl who was supposed to help us out by cleaning did a rather piss poor job of it. We had to have a friend of ours (who was actually riding with mom on the way up) come over on Friday morning and help us clean out the refrigerator.

We ended up tossing away a few things at the last minute, like the vacuum cleaner, the brooms, the majority of the food in the refrigerator, the pots and pans, the cleaning supplies, because they 'supposedly' wouldn't fit in the truck. Mom said later on that she though they probably would've, but by that point we were over packing and loading that we didn't give much of a damn about anything.

Then, I had a brief emotional breakdown a few hours before we left due to the build up of stress and frustration and anxiety and all of that other crap. So I was sitting on my luggage bawling my eyes out, while the carpet cleaners were cleaning the apartment. It was rather cathartic now that I think about it. Added to it all was the fact that my car wouldn't start and we needed it to in order to load it onto the car trailer on the back of the moving truck. We eventually had to repower the battery and got it started enough to get it on. It's dead again, of course, but I think it's because I need a completely new battery since I just had the car tuned up not long before we left.

The trip up itself wasn't so bad. we drove straight through, although we had thought we might have to stop overnight at some friends of ours, but we were making good time so we didn't need to. We did pull in after midnight, so I needed to stay overnight with friends before coming to the condo the next morning. Once we got the key, we unlocked everything and once more people arrived, began to unload. The unloading seemed to go much smoother I think because we had all adults helping and the weather wasn't as monstrous as in Florida. Yes, it was hot but not ungodly like it was on Thursday.

We're gradually beginning to unpack everything and set things up the way we want them to be. We did have to buy some things, like a new vacuum, pots and pans, cleaning supplies, food, ect. We want to try to get things on the inside set up before trying to tackle the things in the garage and basement. THAT will be the fun part.

The cats seems to have adjusted quite well already. They like to run up and down the stairs and explore things. We do have to make sure that the basement and garage doors are closed so that no wandering kitties will appear... and then disappear.

Here are some pictures I took of the inside of the new place. I wanted to get them before we started loading a bunch of boxes and stuff inside. I hope to take more once we get everything all put into place.

One of my goals is to try to go back to school and get my Master's Degree in Library Science at Eastern Tennessee State University. I never tried to do school and work at the same time because I knew I couldn't do both. Hopefully I can get a job on campus as a Graduate or Research Assistant so I can pay a lower tuition. It's knowing where to start is the tricky thing. But, hopefully it'll work out. I want to try to avoid getting the same kind of job I had in Florida, because it wasn't fulfilling, and I'd like to try to avoid getting a job out of necessity rather than enjoyment if I can help it. Wish me luck!

As those of you who follow me on Facebook may have guessed by now, mom and I are in Tennessee looking for housing. It took as almost the entire day yesterday (Friday) to find something, but I think we may have struck pay dirt.

It's nothing fancy, but it's very charming and has a spectacular view of the mountains from the living room window. That in and of itself may just be worth it. It has smaller bedrooms that what we have now and MUCH smaller closets as well as one full bathroom (which means I have to share. After having my own bathroom for four years, I got a little spoiled), but it has a very large basement which looks like it can hold quite a bit of stuff, especially if we condense it.

Besides, if we find another place we like better after a year, we can move again, but I honestly don't see that happening. For one thing, I don't think I'd want to move again for a very long time. Nothing is official as of yet, but we filled out applications (we both had to) and hopefully it'll get processed and approved so that we can move out by the time we need to be out of our Florida place. There are a few minor things we need to do as of yet, like finish up the packing, find someone to drive the truck for us while we drive the car and tow the other car (which in actuality will be behind the moving truck) and finish up some things before we make the move.

Monday I have a meeting with a financial adviser about rolling over my 401(k) to an IRA and then we have to take our older cat to the vet to get her shots updated and then receive copies of her records for a vet up here. Then the rest of the week will probably be more packing...

We did go to the movies today. We went to see Now You See Me which is about a group of magicians who rob banks and give the cash to the less fortunate. It's a lot more complex than that, but I can't really describe it any better. The theater we went to is very nice. Nice large curved screen. I told mom that when the second Hobbit movie comes out as well as Catching Fire we need to see it in that theater. It's a bit out of the way though, but most everything is here. I have to get used to finding my way around once we move up. I'm used to things being more close together where we are now.

We went to this quaint little bakery in downtown Bristol, VA (which is a hop, skip and a jump from here). It had very good pastries for reasonable prices. I debated on getting an elephant ear, but I stuck to a couple of donuts instead.

Later today we went to other friends of ours in Piney Flats to have a nice little cookout and swim in the lake nearby. It was a lot of fun, but I almost had a panic attack getting into the lake since the access point we have is very steep and a bit slippery. I eventually made it in though and had some fun.

I think I'll turn in now since it's been a long day and we need to head out in the morning. Hopefully I'll have more to report later on.