.:reflections of twilight:.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who left comments and condolences on my last post on the loss of my cat, Ori. It was greatly appreciated. A lot of people wouldn't have a great deal of sympathy for the loss of a pet, but they fail to realize that they're more than just an animal. They're a devoted companion and loyal friend. So thanks to all of you.


Secondly, Ernesto is coming our way, but he's been downgraded to a tropical depression, so it'll probably be the strength of a thunderstorm by the time it gets to us. Mom's work is closed today because they feared the worst. I think it was a little presumptuous of them, but I guess they figured better safe than sorry. So mom is home now going through some things in her bedroom.

I'll contact the Human Resources Department tomorrow and see where I stand employment-wise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Of course, if I do get hired, I'll have to cut out my night owl activities...

I joined a new community called mp3_share where I can look for some music. I found some already. There are some songs I'm looking for, but I don't know if I want to place a request just yet or not...

Hopefully Ernesto won't knock out any power or anything. If so, well then I wont be online tomorrow probably. I doubt it, though.


Yesterday I've been burning some stuff from my computer onto CD-ROM's so that I can free up some space on my hard drive. There's some torrents I want to open up, but I need the space first. I'll finish more of it today.

Trivia of the day: Because microwave ovens cook so fast, microbes can survive on the surface of the food. To counteract this problem, cover the cooking dish with another dish of glass or ceramic, not plastic. The steam that accumulates will heat the surface, thus killing any surviving microscopic critters.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who read and responded to my last post. I appreciate your support during a difficult time for me. I feel a little better now. I'm still worried and anxious about everything, but I don't feel quite as overwhelmed as I did before. So again, thanks...

Anyway, I'm a little annoyed at the moment. I was trying to set up a way for me to pay my bills online instead of sending out checks and having to worry about sending them out on time or them getting lost in the mail and so forth. I was able to set up my Student Loan payments online (after a little scuffle. No one was injured). But my credit card ones were harder. For one, I filled in the right blanks and everything, and it said it couldn't access or find my account or some such. Then another said it needed the three numbers on the back of the card, well I haven't used that card since forever, so I packed it away with my other stuff in storage. So no dice there. *fumes* Online bill paying is supposed to make life easier...

We finished cleaning out grandma's apartment yesterday. The majority of the time was spent removing the shelf paper (and it's residue) from the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. The adhesive must've been really good, because it didn't want to come off. So we had to work at the remains until it all came off. This is why I never want to use shelf paper for my shelves...

After we finished that, we continued with what we had set out to do in the first place... the rest of the cleaning. I worked on washing out the freezer (which had some sort of lingering odor, I wasn't about to try and figure out what it was). My aunt cleaned the sink and wiped down the counter tops and my uncle worked on the floors. Then when we finished, we needed to wait for the manager to do an inspection of the place before we handed over the keys. She was impressed by how clean we got the place. She joked to my aunt that maybe she should hire us to clean the rest of the units when they empty. The look on my aunt's face said it all. When we left, it felt strange. I mean, grandma lived in there for five years and now we're never going to go back there anymore.

Tomorrow we decided to gather at my aunt's house and start to go through some of the things that are there in order to get ready for the garage sale at the end of the month. Some of the little nick-nacky things are gonna be cleaned and then we'll start pricing. I have no idea how long this whole process is going to take, because not only do we have the stuff at my aunt's house to go through, but the stuff in storage as well. These next few weeks are gonna be busy, I have a feeling.

I reorganized some things in my room last night. I was able to move some more of my manga and DVD's into the other plastic storage boxes I got the other day. Then, the box they were in, I moved some of my other books and things into it, since it was bigger than the one they were in. So I eliminated one whole box. Now I have to try and arrange things in the closet some so I can fit my clothes that are in my trunk (in a black duffel bag) and bring them inside the house if I can. Those were clothes I had stored at grandma's.

Tuesday, since I had a little bit of free time, I made some icons. Three of Aka no Ou (from 'Samurai Deeper Kyo') and one of Rin (from Furuba ch. 123). They turned out pretty decent I think. The Aka no Ou ones I posted on love_deeper. One of them is also my current usericon. *points*

I'm reading 'Death Note' 4 again (actually reading as opposed to skimming) since flamika said Takada makes a cameo. So I've been trying to spot her (even though I have no idea what she looks like. It's been kind of a challenge). But I did notice something. In the scene where Raito (or Light. Whatev.) is talking to Misa for the first time, he says to her, "You killed innocent police officers. How is that any different than the man who killed your parents?" This gives me some indication that he hasn't (at least at this point) completely gone over to the Dark Side. He's on the verge, but not there yet. I just thought that was interesting. And you know, I think I want to scan the little skeleton guy inside the front on the first page and maybe make an icon out of him. I think he's kinda neat lookin'.

Trivia of the day: One of the fattiest fishes is salmon: 4 ounces of the delectable fish contains 9 grams of fat.

Well, I'm feeling much better today than I have for the past few days. Maybe it was some sort of 24-48 hour stomach bug or something. *shrugs* Anyway, let's just say, I never want to go through with that again.

I have to go to my grandma's house and put up her Christmas Tree for her which is always time consuming. But if I don't do it, it never gets done. I think she tends to take advantage of me a bit. Like doing stuff like this and taking her to her volunteering thing on Thursdays. I mean, I don't mind doing it on occasion, but she has this tendancy to assume I have nothing better to do than to cart her someplace at a moment's notice. Beleive it or not, I do have stuff I do during the day, and when it comes time for me to be employed again, I'll have even less time. But I know she does the same with mom, so I don't feel singled out. Like for instance, she wanted to drop off my aunt's birthday gift today since it happens to be her actual birthday. Mom said that my aunt is pretty busy with stuff, and probably wouldn't be home. Then my grandma suggested that maybe on Thursday, after (or before) her volunteering gig. Mom basically said the same thing and that it wouldn't be a big deal if she had to wait until Saturday to drop the gift off. I've not always gotten gifts on the exact date of my birthday. But grandma's a little anal that way. I told her that today, I'd set the time for when I was coming over and I'm going to reitterate that on Thursdays, I'll only take her to the volunteering thing, every other week, not every week. Sorry, but that's the way it is. There are times when you just have to put your foot down.

I started doing some of my cards last night. So far I have finished:

poeticdeathofme
flamika
elvenmoon

dracschick is next on my list. For the one's I've finished. all I basically have to do is stamp them, return address them, seal them and mail them. But, before I can do that, I have to make sure I have enough stamps as well as make some return address labels so I don't have to write out all of them.

OK, since there are others doing this, I'll do it too:

My Christmas Wish List:

Furuba volume 18 -- I know it's still in Japanese, but that didn't stop me from buying 16 and 17. And this one has the sqee-able chapter of 106!!

Hot Gimmick volumes 11 and 12 -- again in Japanese, but I still want to look at the pretty pictures, especially since we won't be getting these for quite some time... *grumbles at Viz*

Madonna's new CD, Confessions on a Dance Floor -- yes, I've been outed as a closeted Madonna fan, I'm not ashamed.

a cell phone strap for my phone -- simple, yes. I don't care though. I'd like a Furuba one, but I can take a Tigger or a Tinkerbell or something like that.

This is one of those things where if you think you can help with, than you can, but if not, don't worry about it. My Christmas is gonna be fairly slim this year (on both sides), but I'm still grateful what what I do have, anyway... my friends and my family, my health, a roof over my head (even if it isn't ours), and food to eat.

Quote of the day: "God has built into all of us an appreciation of beauty and has even allowed us to partipate in the creation of beautiful things and places. It may be one way God brings healing to our brokenness!" -- Mary Jane Worden

Well, I slept a little better last night. We've decided we're going to go for the 'buy the house' option. At least it might buy us some time since the landlord has to find an appraiser and stuff in order to find out how much it's worth. So we're not quite out of the woods yet... So keep the prayers and hugs a comin'!

And while I'm at it, I'd just like to thank all of my LJ friends who've supported me through all of this. I don't have very many crisis', but when I do, I get so much support and love from everyone...

So thanks. *hugs for all*

In other, more cheerful news, I went and bought a lot of books on Monday. I don't get a chance to read them as much as I'd like since I'm working now, but I still try to find the time to do so. Now maybe it'll help take my mind of of the ruin my life has become...

Anyway... aside from working, there isn't a whole lot to report on. Yesterday we had Bible Study where I enjoyed a fresh slice of pumpkin pie afterwards.

I was a little stressed at work (obviously) but hopefully today will be a bit better. I told my boss about what happened and he asked if I needed some time off and I said not at the moment. It was nice of him to ask, though.

Quote of the day: "There is no tranquilizer in the world more effective than a few kind words." -- Pearl Bailey