MIY day #1: Bath stuff

Ok! I'm scheduling my first MIY day on Jan 17, at 2pm. The agenda? Bath Stuff. All the easy guys, so no worries. It is our first time after all.

Bath salts (of varying colors and scents)
Sugar or salt scrubs (those with ants may want to avoid the sugar)
Bath bombs (or bath fizzies) and their variant
Bath melts, and
Milk and honey bath mix

So fun so fun! and so luxurious! The point is to learn to make some really great bath stuff, without spending a ton of money. All the ingredients will be stuff you can pick up at the drug store, except perhaps the scents. I'll be splitting up the shopping list between everyone, so be sure to RSVP by Jan 10. And if there's a particular scent you would like, let me know so we can make sure its there.

Here's the details on each product:

Bath Salts can be made with any type of salt, though some are definitely better than others. We'll be using a mix of epsom salts, sea salt, and rock salt, as those are the easiest to come by, and are the base of all bath salts. Epsom and sea salts are the most theraputic for the skin and muscles. There are other types of salt that hold fragrance better, but as these don't need to sit on store shelves for two months, why worry about it?

Sugar/salt scrubs will simply involve mixing various oils good for the skin with our course ground sugar or salt. Sugar tends to be a bit gentler as an exfoliant, but as mentioned before, can be a disaster if anyone has ants, so depending on who attends, we may make both types, or just the salt scrub.

Bath bombs (fizzies) are so easy, but seem so mysterious. We're going to take the mystery out. Made with baking soda and citric acid, these are fun, and very impressive when you mention to someone that you made them yourself. You'll never pay $5 for a bath bomb again.

Bath Melts are the silky, oily cousin of bath bombs. We take the basic bath bomb recipe and add shea butter and cocoa butter, and if you like, even some dark chocolate. Instead of fizzing everywhere, they slowly foam and melt into your bath, creating a soft, moisturizing experience.

Milk and Honey bath mix is pretty simple too. There are a zillion variations on dry milk baths, and this is one. Dry milk, honey, oatmeal and some bubbles and viola! A milk and honey bath with yummy relaxing bubbles. If you want, leave the bubbles out, and just use the mix. Also works as a bath bomb, and hey! Since we've got the ingredients already, why not go wild. ;)

Indoor gardening

I haven't been to my community garden plot in ages. Between rain, cold, and the early sundown, there's been no opportunity. I'm looking forward to making up for lost time this weekend, but in the meantime, I've also been mulling around an idea of container gardening. Jeremy would never let me do too much, but two vegetables we like, buy a lot (and overbuy so they can rot in our fridge a lot) are lettuce and chard. And surprise! Both are extremely container friendly!

So I'm ordering some lettuce and chard seed and seeing what I have around the house for a container, or maybe picking up containers from a thrift store. Since both plants have shallow roots, I can use anything that is a foot deep, and at least a foot in diameter. Plastic storage containers, old pots and bowls, whatever. Drainage will be an issue, but if its a container I can't drill, then there are some creative ways to deal with drainage, starting with a thick layer of gravel at the bottom of the pot.

At some point I also want to try this. But that's another project for another day.

Good resources for frugal finances

Top 9 Good Habits for a Recession This is just a good article, with links to many other resources, including free financial planning software and a free excel spreadsheet to plan out a debt snowball.

12 Steps to a Prosperous New Year is also a great resource, linking 12 different articles, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. The end of the year is a great time to plan out your goals for the new year and get your finances in order.

Jeremy and I are doing that this weekend (hopefully) and I can't wait. It makes me feel so much better when I know we are on a plan and that we are moving forward towards whatever goal we decide to set. This year it will be being debt free by the end of the year, with a good emergency account saved up, as well as saving something for a down payment on a house. (Those things might actually be affordable by the time we're ready to buy one!)

Following in Japan's footsteps?

Great article in the Wall Street Journal today comparing our crisis to the crisis Japan had in the 90's, referred to as Japan's lost decade. They had a paired crash of both their real estate and stock market, and a decade of recession as a result. During that time, Japan's government made stimulus payment and bailout after bailout. Lots of public works. They didn't make a dent, and ended up putting Japan $1.35 trillion further into debt.

In fact, despite multiple examples in history and around the world showing otherwise, we are still convinced that the government can borrow, tax and print more money, and pay enough to stop any sort of economic crisis. Sorry, but no. Its never worked. Ever.

"Not to spoil the party, but this is not a new idea. Keynesian "pump-priming" in a recession has often been tried, and as an economic stimulus it is overrated. The money that the government spends has to come from somewhere, which means from the private economy in higher taxes or borrowing. The public works are usually less productive than the foregone private investment." - Barack Obama-san, WSJ

Honestly, we are seeing a "cleaning out" of our markets bad and inflated investments. Unfortunately, we're also seeing some deflation happening, which, if it catches momentum, could spell real trouble for us long term, economically.

As individuals, its pretty great. The ratio of debt to income in America has lowered for the first time in 52 years!! (We've been borrowing more and more and more for 52 years....and now we're surprised to get the check. We have been so spoiled) The amount of dollars saved per person actually raised and is close to being a positive number. (That's right, we've borrowed so much that even when every person's savings in America is added all together, we're still in the red!)And with deflation, it means things are more affordable, and cash savings are easier to hold onto.

All in all, yes, its painful, but this is a step in the right direction. Its like when you go on a diet after eating McDonald's for years. The first couple days you are starving and feel really crappy. And here's your Uncle Sam trying to hand you another Big Mac so you don't feel so hungry. Gee thanks.

Someone Else's Junk

So, prior to today's major happenings (see Miss Piggy moment below) I was excited to write about yet another amazing trip to the Salvation Army. thrift stores are such an under-utilized asset. (yes! triple word score!) Recently, Jeremy and I were talking about getting a bread machine, so we can make our own bread, pizza dough, etc.

And, for those who don't know, there are two kitchen appliances you are almost guarnteed to find at any decently sized thrift store: ice cream makers and bread machines. (If you don't see any, wait a couple weeks...they'll show up) They always seem like good ideas at the time, and then get used maybe twice and put away. And then someone finds a dust covered "thing" and donates it.

So, instead of spending $200 on a solid bread maker, we spent $4.

Our Salvation Army is good for a lot of other stuff too. I bought a ton of Christmas decorations this year from them. When I needed new work clothes, they were totally there for me. And creative plates, baskets, bowls etc to put homemade goodies in for Xmas? Yup, they set me up.

I used to think that they never had anything good, and then I took more than two seconds to think about it. Seriously, what do I see the people in my life donate? What do I donate? Its usually clothes slightly out of style, working but unused electronics, and other cool sundries.

So maybe I don't want the sweater that doesn't fit anymore, but someone will. And that street goes both ways. The prices are rediculous (especially on 50% off days - check your local thrift store to see if they have these) and you can find some seriously awesome stuff. Just plan enough time to sift through all the ungl bridesmaid dresses and julienne french fry cutters.

Oh, and awesome tip for those into brand name bling. Thrift stores based in rich areas like Beverly Hills will carry pricier items, at pricier prices but still way below retail. Milano Blahnik's for $50, anyone?

My Miss Piggy Moment

I am so pissed. Jeremy practically kills himself trying to get everything done for these people. (student film) They don't feed him well, they constantly ask for him and the crew to be okay with less than 12 hours to rest, and they treat him with no respect on top of it. And now, weeks after he hurt his foot, after he finally was seen limping be enough people to get attention, he goes to the doctor and his foot is fucking broken.

Not only is it broken, but its broken in a way that he can't walk on it at all for two months. And if it doesn't heal correctly, which sometimes happens with these breaks, then they may have to do a bone graft from his hip. We're not there yet, but I hate that the doc even felt he had to mention it.

They (the student director's school) are paying for the initial doctor's appointment, and should be paying for all the follow up as well, so at least they are doing that. But I am having a serious Miss Piggy moment. I thought about reporting to the union or talking to the producer directly, but didn't for Jeremy's sake. (It made me happy to think about though) and now, I am so ramped up. "You hurt my Kermie!!!! Hi-YAH! Hi-YAH!"

Either they will pay for worker's comp or we will file unemployment. And they are covering the doctor's bills, so that's good. At least they aren't total scum. But that protective energy is on full blast baby. So watch out. I am NOT a happy camper.

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 6

So, three posts for today. Sorry bout that, but this way, you can read about what you want, and skip what you don't. :)

So Sunday was our final weigh-in for the CoreGym informercial to show the results. I wasn't so sure about whether we would do well enough, but wow. Looking at the "Before" pictures, its really stunning. Final total: Katy lost 13 lbs and 16 inches, Jeremy lost 10 lbs and 13.5 inches.

Winner: Katy! Though its not quite fair, cause he's injured and his job made it much harder to workout and eat healthy. But still. Woo!!!

We filmed testimonials about the CoreGym and how awesome it is. (It is btw, I'm not lying) and the whole time I was still just blown away by the difference in the before and after pics. I was so gross looking! I'll post the before and after pics when I get them. I asked for an email with them, but who knows how long that'll take.

Jeremy and I are still going to keep up with our CoreGym workouts, but I'll stop the weekly updates. I still want to get down to 135, but now that there's no timeline, I've decided it'll be healthier and longer lasting if I do it slowly. So no more big goals, just happy happy Katy and Jeremy. Happy, thinner, sculpted and hotter Sprays. Woot!!

Do-gooding for the holidays, and beyond....

So on Saturday I went to an orientation for School on Wheels, an organization that puts volunteer tutors together with homeless kids in LA, Ventura, and Orange County. I went with my little bro, and sometime in January, we will be matched up with homeless kids in the Pasadena area (that's where my bro is) to tutor for one hour a week.

The whole orientation I was on the verge of tears for these kids. Pulled from one school to the next to the next as shelter space becomes available. Some, in domestic abuse shelters, can't even go to school, cause its too dangerous. And the simple things that make so much difference in their lives, like a little bit of stability and someone believing in them, those things just aren't there.

So that's what Ryan and I are going to do. We are going to be there every week for them, and to say yes, you can do it and we're going to help you.

I'm really excited, and especially happy that in this organization, unlike other volunteer groups, they feel really strongly that no matter how motivated you are, you should not take on more than one or maybe two kids. Cause to commit to too much, and then bail on the kid, that is the last thing they want.

I see more and more homeless people on my bus ride to work. Normal, adjusted people who are just down on their luck and don't have anyone they can lean on. I felt like I had to do something. And to do something to break the cycle. Giving these kids support, a chance at a better life. That's something I can really believe in.

New addition to the family

No, its not that. Its our new dog, Topper! (Sorry Dad) Topper is a chihuahua, dautshound (wiener dog) mix, or as we like to call it: a chihueenie! He is the sweetest, calmest, mostly lovey dog and he was at his no-kill rescue for 8 months!!! WTF? Maybe he was too calm and not excitedly affectionate enough? No idea, but he's perfect for us.

He and Max get along really well, though it'll take a while before they really gel as a pack. And he's doing well with the cats. :D Last night, while watching movies, Topper just curled up on my lap and fell asleep. He is so adorable, and I can't wait for everyone to meet him.

The rescue we got him from, Pet Orphans of Southern California, are very responsible, and had us talk with a behavior specialist for two hours before we could take him home. She told us how to acclimate him to the new place, and to the cats and Max, how to ensure he would bond with us versus Max as the pack leader, and how to train him about various things. Topper was on the street before being in this kennel, so he's never had a consistent pack leader or family to look to or bond with. Very different than a puppy from a breeder, who's born into home dynamics. So he's still kinda skitish, cause he's not quite sure how long things will last. Nor is he used to this kind of living as "normal." With that in mind, we were advised to not introduce Topper to anyone until Wednesday, so he has time to adjust. Make sense, but sorry to all our friends who want to meet him. We'll have to have you over later in the week.

She also said that he's gonna want to run, cause the street, awful as it is, is known to him, versus a home that's all weird and new, so no taking him to anyone else's place for a couple weeks. He needs to learn where home base is first. And they told us to keep him a leash in the house the first few weeks, so he's connected to us and knows who's in charge, the other animals in the house know if he's annoying they can walk away, and he knows that there's someone else in control and that he only needs to deal with a 6' circle of territory at a time. Its something I would never have thought of, and a lot of rules, but I have to say this is the smoothest adoption of a shelter dog I've ever had, and my family has always adopted from a rescue or shelter. So, I guess it works. He's calm, the other animals are calm, its great!

Can't wait until Topper feels like he's really part of the family.

Thoughts on the economic panic

So, I know the technical definition of what's a recession versus a depression, but I'm starting to get a glimpse of what may be a more usable definition to those of us actually living it. A recession seems to be characterized with the economy contracting and inflation going crazy, while a depression would be the same, but with deflation taking the spotlight. I know economists might disagree with me, but I'm reading all this panicky stuff about how inflation would be bad, but the deflation we're seeing is really bad, cause it'll stretch this recession out much futher. And I'm thinking, so its the deflation that is putting us in danger of a depression then?

Anyway, reading all this stuff has got me even more inspired to do MIY days. I've been googling "Make Your Own XYZ" all over the place. I am now excited to make my own laundry detergent (when we run out), yogurt, ricotta and soft farm cheese, pizza dough, bread, bath salts, shampoo, and who knows what else. :)

I know we'll be saving money with prices deflating, but I also know how bad that is long term for the economy, and want to save as much as I can now, while I can, just in case. It'll also help us pay off our debt anyway, so saving is good.

Actually, I also just have to put this out there: Thank God this is happening. I know its really painful right now, and scary, but check it out. People are actually being responsible with their money! The amount of credit applications and credit purchases has dropped dramatically. Luxury items that people can't afford are not being bought. Even with the holiday season here! Its like our country is finally waking up! Its a great silver lining to this cloud, and I hope people's lifestyles actually change long term, instead of just while things are tight. Its very inspiring, seeing people learn to live sustainably on the money they make, rather than always spending more.

A little statistic to show you what I mean: in 2007 it was estimated that consumers in the US spent $2-$3 TRILLION more than they made. (its just an estimate, and clearly has a wide margin of error, but STILL!) There's no estimate for 2008, but I bet its gonna be way lower. :)

Quantum biology?

I just finished reading a really intriguing book: The Biology of Belief. Written by a former cell biologist, it explains the issues with our current theories of how biology works, based on Newtonian physics (which we now know to be gross oversimplifications which only prove out in large scale, macro type reactions). What is amazing is that, when you apply quantum physics to biology, not only does it make about a million times more sense (especially when you spent hours and hours and hours in lab trying to get molecules to behave, like I did), but it also explains how alternative, energy based medicine works, and why it works, AND allows us to recognize the amazing power we have over our own bodies.

The thing I love the most is the science (which he backs up with multiple studies done over the last decade) the shows that our cells and bodies are extremely reactive to energy fields, even the weak ones we create with various emotions. AND he shows how emotions aren't so much an affect of our brain, but rather are an effect from our bodies, caused by some outside stimulus. But it explains why emotions are so illogical. And then he goes through the ways (actual pathways with hormones and stuff) that people can makes themselves sick or heal themselves, through emotions and mindset.

Its things that I came to believe after studying genetics for several years (not to popular with the co-researchers), so I was already primed to get this, but its really neat to read about the science behind it, and what we are finding out.

Also, he has a tail end about a new type of psychology called psych-k, which uses this new research to alter the way your body reacts to things, like phobias and self-esteem issues, extremely quickly (like 15 minutes quickly) by bypassing the brain and going straight to the body. Sounds pretty awesome.

I highly recommend the book, (the science is very simplified for laymen, so no worries), and if you haven't seen it, you might want to see "What the #@#$% Do We Know?" before you read the book. It's a bit like an intro, though it was made a few years earlier.

Survivng by Thriving

I am very moved by this weekend, by the conversations I had with my parents, by what I hear and read about what my friends are going through, and by what I see around me. The world is changing, and the same old, same old is just not going to cut it anymore.

We are being called to step beyond what we thought we were capable of, beyond the limits of who we thought we were. To not do so is to flounder. But to do it, there will be major challenges and upsets.

So far, I've used this blog to keep people up-to-date with what's going on in our lives: little comments, a few thoughts here and there, but mostly just "this happened, and then that happened." I'm not going to stop that completely, but it doesn't satisfy me anymore. More needs to be said, and more done. And with that, I declare my blog as place to come to be inspired, to be educated, to be challenged, and occasionally, just to enjoy life.

And as my blog changes, so does the title. This is theme: to feel complete we must thrive. Survival is simply not enough...and frankly, I never feel like I'm "surviving" when I live like that. I always feel lost, and panicked, and like the slightest thing will topple my house of cards. So my only other option is to thrive, and this is where I'm gonna put anything that helps me do that. Hopefully it'll help everyone else too.

Weekend Update

Lots happened this weekend. Saturday was pretty normal: cleaning, bike riding, etc. But Sunday was a whole other story. My sister (in-law), Donna, broke her foot pretty badly when coming back from my bro's holiday concert. Slipped in the street and caused a huge ruckus. Apparently there were two fire engines, two paramedic teams, and four police cars out for her lil old foot.

The paramedics did a great job and saved her about six months of extra physical therapy by immobilizing the foot and saving the tendon from snapping. (Go EMTs!!) But she still had to have surgery to get the bones placed correctly, with two plates and six screws.

So Sunday, we moved her and Dirk downstairs to my parent's rented room and moved their renter upstairs (he was awesome to say yes to moving, Thanks Davy!) I got there about 3 in the afternoon to help with the unpacking, and by the evening that little space looked so homey and welcoming. I was kinda jealous! ;) I hope she likes it. She's closer to everyone, and on the first floor, so that should help a bunch.

Before I got to my mom's to help with the move, I had to get the laundry done, which is where issue number two happened: my purse was stolen. I thought for sure I had accidentally thrown it in with the laundry, but when the machine finished, I searched and there was no purse. I figure it must've happened when I was wrestling with our duvet cover and mattress pad. Nothing of any value in the purse, but its damn inconvenient.

I had to buy a day pass for the bus and then go to Union Station on my break to pick up a replacement for my monthly pass (thank god for electronic passes. They can cancel my old one and give me a new one without me having to buy anything!) And I lost my office key (though thankfully not my car keys. That would've been nasty) I canceled all my cards, and put fraud alerts on all my credit reports, and ordered a new license. So everything's taken care of. Its just so...annoying! grrr.

I get that people are feeling the pinch, and may be getting desperate. But grrrr anyway.

Thank goodness for family. Any negative feelings I would have had melted totally away when I was with mom and Greg helping move. I had such great talks with them about all sorts of cool spiritual stuff, and about nothing. It was AWESOME! I love my family. :)

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 5

Well, we're working on it, but life has really interfered with our exercise program. Jeremy broke his CoreGym, and we picked up a new one for him yesterday. He's decided to use his down time at work to workout, cause all week he's wanted to workout, but been exhausted after working 12-14 hour days. So working out at work will (hopefully) work better than working out after work.

He did lose a pound this week, putting him at 187 lbs. currently. (Woo!)

I am having a hard time telling what my weight should be. PMS related bloating and water retention have totally messed up my weight. One day I was 149, the next 152, then 153, then 148 (at least that was normal!) and on and on this week. I weighed in as 147 this morning, but who knows if that's accurate. For now, lets say that's my current weight, just for kicks. ;)

So with that, it means we both lost a pound this week. Moving in the right direction! Now, we just need to get some momentum going!

Biggest Loser: Spray Edition - Week 4

Today ends week 4. What a crappy week. Thanksgiving, days off, too much sleep. Jeremy hurt his ankle, so standing exercises are out for the moment. And I took two days of no working out for me. Motivation was at an all time low.

The good news is, despite all that, neither of us gained any weight. We didn't lose either, but since AP reported today that the average American gains 1 lb on Thanksgiving alone, I feel decent about maintaining. Well, I feel decent now...I had to kick myself in the butt a few time first. >:-/

Seriously though, one pound in a day?!!?! This holiday is totally messed up. And if that's the average, you know there are people who gain two or even three pounds on turkey day. CRAP! It does make me feel better about maintaining, even if I did have two servings of pie. (sugar free apple pie, but the crust was still there, filled with butter and carbs)

I did happen to get a ton of half off food from Fresh and Easy yesterday (leftovers from their Thanksgiving day stock). Lots of fresh veggies and turkey breast. So we should be eating well and working out next week.

I'm still holding to my goal of losing another 10 pounds by Week 6, though now its going to be really really hard. Lets hope a couple of those pounds come off as water weight. :)

Jeremy - 188 lbs; 15 lbs lost Katy - 148 lbs; 10 lbs lost

Inspiration!!

I am totally inspired and want to share it with everyone. I want to start a recurring make-it-yourself (MIY) afternoon in 2009. I started thinking about all sorts of fun and easy bath stuff that can be made in an afternoon, inspired by the thought of christmas gifts. :) Unfortunately, I think its a little too late for me to put an afternoon together in time for Christmas gifts. And besides, most of whom I would gift with these great bath products are the same people I'd invite to the MIY day!

So my idea is to do one a month or so, but timing is less important. What I really want to know is who's interested, and what do you want to make?

Here's my ideas for three different weekends that we can do. Tell me what you think, or let me know of any other ideas you might have. Even if its just an idea for one product, we can probably brainstorm around it to create a whole afternoon.

Afternoon #1: Bath Products (Of course!) which can include bath fizzies (or bath bombs), bath melts, bath salts, honey and milk bath powder, and bath teas. We could also do a more ambitious afternoon later with lotions, soaps, creams and lip balms, but we can come back to that if we're into it. Those products definitely take more work and planning.

Afternoon #2: Bread Mixes, which could have pancake mix, biscuit mix, cake mixes, sweet bread mix (like pumpkin or gingerbread), cookie mix, and maybe even some yeast bread mix (like basic white bread).

Afternoon #3: Soup mixes, of varying types. My first thoughts are to bean soups (cause the colored beans look pretty) but I bet we could find a bunch of other dry soup options, like chicken noodle (sans chicken of course).

Afternoon #4: Sauces maybe? This could be really fun, but it would be a little messier than the others, cause it would have wet ingredients.

We could also try doing some household cleansers, or get crafty and do home decor stuff? The sky's the limit really.

So there's some ideas. I just think it would be really fun to have lunch together and make fun things. It could also save us all a lot of money, unless we decide to get really gourmet with some of the materials. My thought was to make things cheaply, with normal household ingredients, rather than mail ordering a bunch of specialty stuff. And for the food stuff, it could help us be healthier too, cause we'd all know exactly what was (and was not) in our mixes. (No chemical preservatives! Yipee!)

Ok, I now open the floor...what say you all?

Biggest Loser: Spray Edition - Week 3

This post is totally late. Sunday was the end of week 3, and what a disappointing week it was (for me anyway.) I got a stomach bug, something in our tap water I think. And let me tell you, abs and core exercises when you are already nausious and weak, those are not fun. Needless to day week 3 was kinda a bust for me. I also slept a ton, being sick, so getting up in time to exercise in the morning, or having energy to do it at night, was pretty frickin tough. This is where having a partner around to motivate me would have really helped. But alas, Jer was working again.

Jeremy, however, lost a ton of weight on his job. I haven't had his numbers till now, so I hadn't posted them, but during the first two weeks he lost 5 pounds total, to bring him down to 195. This Sunday he weighed in at 185. 10 pounds!!!! So awesome! ( I am SOOOOO jealous.) My competitive streak is totally showing. Look out Jer, I'm coming for you!

My weight loss this week was a measly 2 pounds. Due almost entirely to watching my diet and not eating much at all (being sick). But the holiday weekend is here, and that means lots and lots of time to work out. :D I even picked up a sugar free apple pie for Thanksgiving, so I don't have to feel left out when it comes to dessert.

Three more weeks left before the big weigh in. 20 pounds, here I come!


Total pounds lost: Jeremy - 15lbs. Katy - 10 lbs.

The Word

NOTE:This blog is inspired by Jeremy's current film shoot, but its not limited to that in the least.

RESPECT

You know, we as adults are willing to put up with a lot. We'll work for less pay, or go overtime to get a project done. We'll pay for our own expenses. We'll deprive ourselves of sleep. Basically, we'll work ourselves to the bone. (and even if you wouldn't, go with me on this...)

We do it for many reasons: to get something from someone, to earn ourselves a little time off, to make sure someone else is taken care off, but mostly, because we said we would. We keep our word (Remember I'm talking adults here. Overgrown teenagers who never emotionally matured don't count)

So if you see someone doing this on your behalf, and you're an adult, what do you do? You show respect back. Cause you know what they went through. And if you're a NICE adult, you might even show a little gratitude. (GASP!)

Cause what happens if you don't show it? You are way less likely to have that person push so hard for you again. Because who wants to work for someone who doesn't show respect? Not me. At that point, you've lost MY respect.

So the next time you're about to take for granted stuff that people do for you, remember, respect is hard to find and really easy to lose. Give it back, and you might actually not have to work so hard to get it.

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition - Week 2

So our second week ended on Sunday, and I'm 152 lbs! Getting very close to that elusive "under 150" number. :D Hoping to get there by the end of this week.

My right knee has a twinge in it, so I've been laying off the cardio stuff, and I know that'll slow my weight loss. But I really don't want to further hurt my knee. I've got a good knee support wrap, and after two days of cardio rest, I'm gonna try a little tonight, and see how it goes. I'm totally babying my knee, and I hope that pays off.

Jeremy hasn't been able to do his CoreGym workouts in two days, cause he's been working 12 hour shifts on his film shoot, plus the hour commute each way. Ouch! I totally miss him. But I know he's been getting "other" exercise, running back and forth from the lighting truck, lifting 40 lb lighting kits, etc. So he's probably going to be ok. :) I'm more worried about me. Working out alone is so much HARDER!

We also have a TON of smoke in the air from the fires, so that's another good reason to lay off the cardio, or take it easy. Cause if you breathe too hard, you can feel it burn, and it is NOT a fun type of burn. Its that "I can't get any oxygen!" type of thing, so that sucks.

The office smells like smoke this morning, but thankfully it looks like the air is starting to clear up some, even though there are still fires going. Thank you wind!

So even with all those things blocking me, I am committing to being 148 by next week. Wish me luck! (and don't offer me any sweets) ;)

Quote of the week

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how
infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things
that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever."

~ Isak Denison ~

To the veterans,

Thank you.

"Separate but Equal" is never equal

So Prop 8 was passed, gay marriage was banned, again. And I know most of my friends who read this blog are against banning gay marriage, so I'm kinda preaching to the choir, but I can't help it. I have got to get this out.

In a country where everyone is supposed to be treated equally, banning gay marriage is wrong. And here's my two biggest reasons why:

First, the legal stuff. A lot of people want to protect marriage by banning gay marriage. Not sure if I get this, but ok. They say it would open us up to polygamy and other alternate marriage forms. Wow, very reactionary, but I'll accept it as a legitimate view. They say gays should be happy with their domestic partnership, since that's just the same. Really...

News flash people. Its not the same. Its absolutely, 100% not the same. And I'm not talking about the name, or the feeling of segregation it engenders (though that's pretty valid in and of itself.) I'm talking about rights. Like the right to visit your spouse in the hospital. Or the right to be a guardian to your spouses' child from a former relationship. Or the right to be included in your spouses' final wishes should the worst happen. Or about a hundred other rights married people take for granted. None of these rights are recognized nationally for a domestic partnership (or civil union.) In fact, a domestic partnership itself isn't recognized nationally, its state to state.

Now, I'm married in California. But if I moved to Oregon, I'd still be married. Not so for a gay couple, even if they move to another state with domestic partnerships. Which also means that a domestic partnership isn't allowed to take the marriage tax credit on their income taxes. They get a somewhat similar credit, though it is less overall.

Sure, a gay couple can get almost all the rights of a straight couple by seeing a lawyer and having papers drawn up (wills, powers of attorney, legal guardianships, etc) but they have to spend thousands of dollars to do that, while I, as a hetrosexual, can get them for a measley $100 with a marriage certificate.

So I said I had two major reasons, and here's the second. Banning gay marriage is about the belief that gay marriage is wrong. That is goes against nature, or it goes against God, or that its a choice, or whatever it is. Its a BELIEF. Not only is it a belief, but its a belief that many, many people do not agree with.

So tell me this: At what point did we become a country where the beliefs of a majority could be used to force restrictions on the minority who believes differently. When did become ok? Cause if I remember correctly, that goes against our Declaration of Independence ("All men are created equal" anybody?) and the Constitution, particularly the 14th Amemendment (Requires states to provide EQUAL protection under the law to ALL persons under their jurisdiction.)

If I go by what I learned in Civil History, Prop 8, whether I believe in it or not, is unconstitutional, and should not have been passed. Heck, it shouldn't even have been on the ballot. Cause a domestic partnership is certainly not equal protection (see above.)

So, WTF California?!!?!

In case you were wondering...

Here's the link to Core Gym:

http://www.coregym.com

Biggest Loser: Spray Family Edition

We're into week 2 of our weight loss plan, so I thought "Hey, maybe its time to actually tell people we started." :)

Jeremy and I are part of a test group using this new product called the Core Gym. Its mostly pilates based stuff, and is an at home thingy that lets you do a lot of stuff you would normally need much larger equipment for. There's eight 8 minute workouts that they gave us, and a schedule of which ones to do which day. We started with one, and it looks like by the end of the month we should be up to 5 a day.

We are loving it. There's some cardio, some arm stuff, and a lot of leg and core work. We are sore, but we are loving it. I have to estimate a little, cause I'm using a different scale than the one we did our first weigh in on, but it looks like I've lost 3 pounds so far! (Starting weight was 159.6 lbs -- EW!)

The great thing is that the workouts are short enough that they are easy to fit into the day. And we are both getting strong enough to do two or three at a time, which feels awesome! (even though we can't lift our water glasses afterwards)

My understanding is that if we show good enough results, we get featured in their infomercial, which will be very cool, cause we get paid for that (I think). So we're watching what we eat, taking the fiber supplement they gave us to curb appetite, and working our little touchies off! (literally)

Wish us luck! More updates to come.

The Great Camping Weekend

Or, more accurately, The Great Camping 24-Hours, but whatever.

Camping with Jeremy this weekend was so, SO nice. Quiet, peaceful, amazing. We attempted to drive up the 2, only to be thwarted by some type of accident blocking both lanes, right at the entrance to the Angeles Forest.

So, a little creative navigating and we found ourselves entering the Forest not through La Cañada, but through the nether-regions of Tujunga. Desolation, desert, and depression....for an hour. Jeremy was getting all disappointed that my California mountains didn't have any pine trees, and that everything in LA was a desert.

Chilao campground did not help. This was our first choice of campgrounds (once we got back on track and on the 2 again), since it was the closest. It has rave reviews, so I figured it'd be great! Not so much. The two best areas of the campground were closed to either protect a native species or for fire danger, so the only area left was the RV area called Little Pines. Little indeed...all the trees were 8 feet max! With almost no privacy, camp sites practically on top of each other, and to top it all off, just about everything was brown and dead, cause of the dry summer. This place might be a beautiful meadow area in the spring, but its awful right now. We didn't even bother getting out of the car.Onward to Buckhorn, 10 miles down the road.

Buckhorn is BEAUTIFUL! Tall tall trees, the camp sites are nicely spaced out, great hiking trail to a waterfall (at least, that's what they say...we only saw a trickle) and a creek running through the main part of the site. The creek was dried up into stagnate pools, but there was still water there, and it attracted all sorts of butterflies and chipmunks and stuff. Here's the view from our chosen site:


And our camp site:


We got there, found a perfect site, set up, and then went exploring. This campground is really well laid out. Lots of pockets of 5 or 6 sites, rather than all 38 being right on top of each other. So we hung out and just relaxed for most of the afternoon, playing cards and talking and stuff. Really nice. I gave Jeremy his birthday gift so he could use it that night:

A Jayne Hat! Made by me, in four days, and with much stress over the keeping of the secret. (My hubby is a hard man to surprise) He was so stoked, and had NO IDEA! Birthday surprise FTW!

We had fun cooking beanie weennies on our fire for dinner (Jeremy's choice), along with some biscuts and cocoa, and left s'mores for breakfast, cause we were so stuffed. Sometimes oldies are the best. Yay campfire cooking!!! I'm totally inspired for next time too...the campfire gourmet is on the case!

Buckhorn campground is totally my new favorite now. Its closed Nov-Apr but I can't wait to bring friends up for a group camping trip when it opens again. Its at about 6300 feet though, so very cold at night, and pitch black. Boy howdy were we thrown by how quiet is was, even with all the people camping and a youth group of about 20 teens screaming and laughing all the time. And dark. We totally failed our night vision check. Pretty stars though. :)

The next morning we took it nice and slow, slept in, and then packed up. We didn't feel like hiking again, so we drove up the road a bit to a picnic spot on the crest of the mountain called Eagle's Roost. Gorgeous view:

Those really blue mountains in the back are the mountains we see from LA, much shorter than the ones we camped on. So amazingly gorgeous. It was a great place to hang out, but eventually, it was time to come back to civilization....and take a nap (Apparently it was colder than we thought at night...we didn't sleep as well as we thought) :) I for one can't wait to go camping again (with a warmer sleeping bag) and I have the next place picked out! Just have to wait for some actual rain or snow and then its ON!

Quote of the week

First, some context: in Wednesday's debate, John McCain accused ACORN (a non-profit organization that focuses on registering minorities and low-income earners to vote) of "committing one of the greatest frauds in voter history in this country; maybe destroying the fabric of democracy"


"Thank you Senator. The fabric of democracy is being destroyed by ACORN. I am so tired of hearing people say it was being destroyed by concentrating unchecked power in the executive branch, or politicizing the justice department, or condoning torture, or warrentless wire tapping of American citizens. It was actually destroyed by homeless people filling out registration forms with the name Mickey Mouse!" ~Stephen Colbert, Thursday, Oct 16

Hello Inflation, how are you?

So, I'm going to blog a bit on the economy, because I feel like I should be sharing some of my insights on what's going on, and I've had more than a couple friends who have asked me what it all means.

The latest news is the raise (again) of 30-fixed mortgage rates (currently 6.48%) AND the bond yield (interest) on Treasury notes(currently approx. 4%, up from 3.7%). Why do I bring up both? Because the are intrinsically related. Basically, when the yield on Treasury bonds or notes go up, so does the interest on your consumer loans (car, mortgage, etc).

"But wait!" you might say. "I thought the government was fixing the credit crunch, giving money to the banks. How can the credit crunch be fixed if credit costs more? I need things to cost LESS not MORE!" I hear you. The missing piece of this puzzle is the federal debt. Where did the money come from for these bailouts? Debt. Where does a lot of our government's money come from? Debt. And who lends the debt? Investors. Specifically investors buying treasury notes and bonds.

To attract more investors, the US has to raise interest (yields) on the loans they take out (Treasury notes and bonds.) What makes things worse is that many investors are selling their Treasury notes, or not buying new ones. Cause no one wants to invest in a country that's struggling until they are sure that country will come out on top.

So, the US Treasury raises yields, to attract money to fund the bailout, and those raised yields raise interest rates that you pay for your mortgage. Worse, high yields typically result in a lower dollar value and inflation, though it may take a few months before we see it. You see, the dollar's value is also tied into the yields on these notes.

On a more common level, the buying power of your dollar is tied to how much you can buy with it, and as living costs raise (by people paying more for cars, mortgages, store front leases, etc), the cost of everything else raises too. So your dollar buys less.


So, for those who are still with me, the point is there is no free lunch. Our government would like you to think that they can create money out of nowhere, or that they have gobs of it to pull out in an emergency. The truth is they don't, and we will be the ones who pay with inflation and further economic recession.

PS. I now return you to my regularly scheduled blogging

Jeremy's Job

For those who don't know, Jeremy has been looking for work. He went through an amazing internal process about what he wanted to do, and what he was really worth and capable of, and at the end of it, realized he really wanted to work in TV production and act. So he's been throwing his resume out to any and all people who will take it, pass it on, might have a gig, have a gig that is even remotely something in his field, etc and its been paying off. He's had many calls for gigs that are no pay, or deferred pay (same thing, usually) and a couple paying gig calls.

This last weekend, he was called in for a deferred pay gig, 5 days, that was done by a producer who usually has a bunch of well paying work and was doing this deferred one for a friend. He said to Jer, come and show me what you can do, and I'll hire you for my paying gigs. Ok..rocking. Except, that a few hours later, Jeremy was offered another 5 day gig, that paid $100 a day. What to do!

Well, he took the deferred pay gig, cause it had more opportunity for networking, and he'd already said he would do it. Then comes Friday, the day he's supposed to start...only, no call sheet. No phone calls, no emails. There is no info on when to be there, or even where to go. Six messages and several hours later, the producer calls to say that "oh, there was some creative differences with the writer and director, so the shoot's postponed"....gee thanks. So, Jeremy turned down a paying gig, and several other gigs in the interim, and no one bothered to say "hey, take some other gig, cause this one's not happening." So unprofessional!!! I was majorly pissed! (on his behalf...he seemed pretty calm about it, actually).

So, the happy ending is that I got to spend the weekend with my hubby, which was really nice. :) AND he got a call for a one day gig tonight, that may turn into a long term solid job. :D Its for an entertainment news show, and they are shooting the pilot tonight. By next week, they should know if one of the eight networks who are interested is going to pick it up, and if they do, Jeremy's in! AND he's in as a gaffer, which is a big promotion for him. Woo!!! Crossing my fingers!

See, the world does work out! Even when people are lame and rude. :)

Could it be Fall????

I love Fall. I think it may be my favorite season (though Spring can definitely give it a run for its money). After the sweltering heat and monotonous sunny days of summer, it is so wonderful to get clouds, and wind, and coolness, and even some rain. I know, summer isn't supposed to be monotonous, but in LA, it definitely gets there....gee, another 95F day, what is that, the 35th one in a row? Yeah, I get sick of that.

Its something I do miss a lot about Davis. I've never dealt well with really really cloudy or cold climates, but Davis was great. It had a very solid Fall and Winter, but with enough breaks in the weather that you got some sun once in a while. While LA is the exact opposite, lots of sun, with breaks in the weather that allow cloudy cold days.

The coming of Fall also makes me wonder how I would handle a Fall and Winter season in more northernly climes now that I'm taking my thyroid pills. Being an undiagnosed hypothyroid sufferer made anything dark and cold really hard to deal with. But who knows now! I could completely skip over the depression, the I-can't-get-my-toes-warm-even-with-three-pairs-of-socks-and-a-fireplace issues, the low energy, and just get out there and enjoy the fabulous Fall weather like everyone else.

What I want more than anything else is a really REALLY good rain. OH GOD that would be nice. Everything clean, and alive, and that wonderful smell in the air, the sense of everything jsut drinking it in around you. So nice. I miss that. A lot. Hopefully, we'll see at least some rain this month. I'll cross my fingers. :)

Stuck in a rut

I've just completed a massive accounting project for quarter end (ACCPAC issues from our go-live date come back to haunt me....again) and I know I should get back to real life, and normal work, but I'm so overwhelmed...I just feel like collapsing and reading my book. And somehow, that's almost justified, since I stayed at work until 7 last night, with no more than 10 minutes of breaks, total.

But still, I want to move on. To shrug off the tense exhausted feeling in my shoulders and the adrenaline crash that is currently shorting out my brain. But I can't. I'm so caught up in everything that it took for me to do that work, that I'm stuck.

At least there's only 2 and half more hours left in the day, and I get to game tonight too! Really looking forward to that. Matt is teh awesome DM, and there are some really great mental challenges in addition to kicking major ass.

Being the cool older sister

I spent the last few days housesitting/brothersitting for my parents, who are in NY until this afternoon. So you know what that means? Awesome fun time with the little bro, who is not that little anymore. He's 13, which means I don't have to worry about the violence/language/etc in any movies we want to watch, and I can stay up kinda late with him and its cool. (Just don't tell mom!)

Sunday night was movie night with The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. He loved it!!! I loved it too. I am constantly amazed at how funny that movie is, even when I know it by heart. :) Woot to the DG! And Ryan is clear that he must have a movie night with his friends so they too can know the hilarity that is The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.

Monday night we were going to watch Forbidden Kingdom, but alas! It was not "On Demand." What was though, was even better: The Matrix. Which, since Ryan was four when it came out, was a movie that he missed. I have so many great memories of Dad sharing awesome movies with me as I grew up, movies that were before my time or that I was too young for, and now I get to carry the tradition onward! And look uber-cool cause I have a "never-ending" list of great movies....at least until he gets caught up. BTW, Watching The Matrix with a first timer is really fun, highly recommended.

But I think the cool person of the week award definitely went to Jeremy. First he helped Ryan create his first character, a human Monk. Then he bought staffs, dressed them up with tape, and they got to practice staff fighting. And last night, under my suggestion, he bought some 4th edition minis and we had a three way mini battle! Yar! Ryan totally won the points battle, and then I killed him. And Jeremy. I rock. :P

Fun was had by all this week, and tonight, Eversea! I am so lucky.

Missing you

I am really missing all my GenCon friends. The normal decompression, getting-used-to-normal-life-again blues have come and gone. But now that I'm back to my life and have been here a while, I can't help but miss all the smiles, humor, love and fun times we all shared for our brief weekend.

I do love the internet. Without it, I would not be able to communicate at all with friends in Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. But it is not the same as being with them, and it bums me out.

So here's to all my newfound Dead Gentlemen and Margaret Weis friends, may I see you all very soon. And in the meantime, Facebook will keep us together. :)

I have to say, the biggest thing I've come away from GenCon with is the overwhelming sense of being fully and truly healthy again. :D I wasn't even thinking of it at the time, but GenCon was the biggest test yet of my health and fatigue level. Sleep devprivation, sensory overload, and energy requiring late night parties....and I was at work at 9 in the morning on Monday, for the most part doing pretty ok!

For those who may not know, I had chronic fatigue for a year and a half. (HAD....I can actually say HAD!!) I was unable to stand many days, work almost always...had to decide whether to shop for groceries or do laundry, cause I sure as hell couldn't do both in a day. And Jeremy and my family were totally there for me the whole time. We use accupuncture and herbs to control it enough for me to get married and go on a honeymoon, only to come back sick again..once again the "cure" was, well, not.

Enter the Holtorf medical group. They are awesome! At first I felt like they were taking me for every dollar they could, expensive doctor's visits, bagfuls of meds, lists of blood tests that seemed to go on forever...but they are awesome. A year later and I'm off all but two of the meds, the doctors visits are short and reasonable (longer initial visits are the expensive ones...they talk to you for like an hour about every possible symptom so they can treat you effectively) and I've been told that soon, I may not need treatment anymore at all.

So, background over, here's the bottom line. I stood my ground through every energy sucking, crazy funtime event that everyone else did, and, of everyone in LA, it seems like I'm the one who recovered the fastest, with no days off, no two hour naps (though I would have loved one), no getting sick. Not saying that everyone wouldn't have bee able to function were they not allowed their days off and naps. What I am saying is how amazed I am at how I did, and watching my friends take their extra rest makes me even more aware of it. Two years ago, I would have come home from GenCon (not having been able to stay up for most of the parties) and been sick and sleeping and unable to move for days or more.

I feel like jumping up and down and singing to the whole world: I'm healthy!!!!


NOTE: for anyone else who suffers, check out http://www.hormoneandlongevitycenter.com and http://www.fibroandfatigue.com

GenCon Details

Hi all,

Want to hear about the tons of crazy antics at GenCon? Wonder how on earth I survived?

Then check out this blog! Matt tells it better than anyone, and I was with him most of the whole time (except that I actually was at Killer Breakfast) ;)

I'm back!

GenCon was amazing! The people I met and got to hang out with were great! I love you Dead Gentlemen and Margaret Weis Publishing! You guys are the best!!!

I also finally, finally, FINALLY shook off the last of the funk that I've had since I was sick. I am now truly ME! Outgoing, high energy, crazy, funky ME!!!! So happy.

and I've made a promise to myself, that I'm making to all of you now too:

I am not turning back. Any time I (or anyone else) notices I'm going into a funk, I am going to stop, look at myself, and figure out why, what's wrong, and what needs to change, what's not working for me.

The first part of that: taking a break from voice lessons. I do love to teach, but it takes a lot of energy that I don't always have, and I have to drive a long way to do it, and it takes away my evenings and weekends. So, I'm taking a break. Not sure if it'll be a clean break, or slow, but it will happen. :D

GenCon!!!

I am SOO excited! Equally for the fun time that is GenCon and for a very much needed vacation! It'll be great to take a break.

I'm working as a salaried employee at Roadside now, and its still a great job, but I am starting to feel just a bit run down (entering bills all day will do that to you) so the two extra days off will be really nice. :)

I really don't know exactly what to expect at GenCon, but everyone says it'll be fun, and I know that even if the Con itself is not what I expect, I'll have a blast cause I'll be there with all my friends.

The one bummer is I won't be swing dancing this week cause I'm going to the Con, but there's a small hope that there may be a swing dance there. Here's hoping!

Sick

Ugh.

Update: in rapid fire format (I warned you!)

You're still reading? Wow, brave. Ok, here goes:

~Asked to stay on permanent with Roadside Attractions
~Got a raise
~Moved in and feeling at home
~Nice landlord that actually fixes stuff without charging us
~Asshole landlord still not given us our deposit back
~May be going to court/arbitration in near future
~My parents (in Pasadena) are now senior advisers to the President of the General Assembly of the UN (more on this later)
~My brother's turning 13 in a week (Happy bday bro!)
~Biking rocks, driving sucks (get out of your cars people!)
~Discovered Lake Balboa - what a paradise! BBQ to come
and finally:
~Vote Obama! and
~See Wall-E!

Landlord drama

Sigh....I just sent my answer to the discussion going back and forth on email between Jeremy and our ex-landlord, Richard. I am just so disappointed, and hurt. I thought we had this trusting relationship, and that because of that, we would have no issues with our security deposit, or at most, minor things. But he wants us to pay for practically everything, basically covering his costs as a landlord.

I sent a very calm, very clear email outlining my views on each item, and why its ridiculous to ask us to pay for them, and I feel somewhat better, but at the same time, I feel all knotted up, ready at any moment for the response of "no, its my money and I'm keeping it." I don't want this to get legal, but I'm dreading that it might...

Best date ever!

Well, maybe not ever, but it was pretty good. ;)

We were trying to figure out what to do for dinner, and then Jeremy said "We can bike to Pho." Awesome! (btw, I LOVE where we are located. We are close to everything!) We had this great bike ride together over to Pho So 1 on Sepulveda, super cheap, super good. And then on the ride home we took a pretty private bike path that runs next to the bus freeway, and stopped for cookies before finishing the night. So simple and so much fun. I can't wait to do it again. :D

Jack came back!

When we moved, our cat Jack (young, rambunctious, and way to curious) decided to jump out the window (or possibly slipped.) In any case, we came back from Solvang to find Jenna all alone, whining pitiously, and looking for Jack everywhere in the apartment.

A few days ago she finally started to calm down, though was still pretty needy. We'd put signs up about Jack but no luck. And then, last night, while Jeremy was walking Max, Jack appeared! Very thin, and dirty, but ok. He spent the night eating and cleaning himself, and continually trying to wake us up to pet him more. He got thrown out of the bedroom, after which he whined at the door all night. :) I love our Jack!

Welcome home buddy!

What a fabulous weekend!

Solvang was the BEST! The town is so sweet and quiet (we were there the weekend after memorial day, so that might have something to do with it) and it was SO RELAXING!

I'd never been wine tasting before, but boy is it fun! We did a couple normal type tasting rooms, some tasting rooms that were winery specific, and a couple that were wine-plus. One of my favorite places were the Wild Heart tasting room, which did not have a bad wine, even with seven choices! They even had this AMAZING white Cabernet Sauvinion. You'd have to taste to believe.

And we did TWO tastings at what was, and probably will continue to be, my favorite wine tasting place: Vin Hus. Its a gourmet cheese and food store, that has the smallest wine tasting bar in the county, with the coolest wine guy: Brad. Brad taught us about wine tasting, told us his personal tastes and why, never made it sound like I should like the wine (a BIG plus) and he paired the wines with cheeses, salami and chocolate. YUM! I can't wait for his wine club (two wines and a cheese, monthly....can there be anything more heavenly?)

Olive house was a fun tasting because it was a wine and olive tasting....yummy yummy olives. But I thought all the wines were subpar, especially compared to what we had just tasted at Vin Hus.

And then we also picnicked at the Clairmont Lavender farm, which was so quiet an relaxing....totally aromatherapudic. (is that a word?) I picked up some loose lavender to make soap, and got to watch the guy in charge set up the still to make lavender oil....very cool.

On Sunday we visited the Nojoqui falls, which were really nice. I was a little bummed that the fall was more like a trickle, cause its such a dry year, but the mineral deposits the fall had left in the centuries prior were still really beautiful and impressive.

I haven't even talked about the food, which was, of course, amazing! Really, one of my new favorite trips to take and I can't wait for the next one.

Oh! And I bought the BEST yarn at the Village Spinning and Weaving store. So decently priced, and SOOOOOOOO soft! I've been trying to decide what to make, and I think I'll make a sweater, but which pattern to use!

We are MOVED!!!

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU JEREMY!!!!!!!

Jeremy did almost everything in this move, since I was at work during the day, the move happened between Monday and Friday this week. He tells me that the apartment is COMPLETELY full, with furniture and boxes and stuff, barely enough room for us, but at least its MOVED!!!!!

I love you hunny!

Bummed on behalf of a friend

Melissa, our friend in TN who owns a game store, got her shipment of Demon Hunters RPG's only to find that the distributors had made a mistake and sent her the Battlestar RPG instead! So she has to wait till next week.....poo.

Ah, the bliss of moving...

Last night my parents brought dinner over and helped pack while I tutored my little brother in algebra. Then Jeremy and I stayed up for another hour and a half packing. We're getting pretty close actually, thanks to the "Throw it in a box now, sort through later" strategy. Fast packing, slower unpacking. And I have a feeling that Jeremy will end up doing exactly what I did when I did most of the unpacking two years ago: I threw away a bunch of his crap.

Now that I'm working all day and he's the one unpacking, I'm expecting to come home to piles of stuff that either get sorted through or tossed. YAY! Who needs eight scented lotions anyway! (Apparently I do, cause I packed up all of them - see the above packing strategy) >P

But the den, kitchen, music room and bathroom are mostly done. We've left the bedroom until today, so we can do our last load of laundry sans quarters (its pay laundry in our new building) and pack some stuff for Solvang as well.

Dear LORD I am looking forward to Solvang....between moving and the chaos I am expecting will ensue on Monday when we switch to our new accounting software at work (which no one outside of the acct dept has been trained in yet...)I am expecting to really need a great weekend off.

BareMinerals

OOOOOOHHHHHHHH! I love this product
I just got my starter kit on Friday (thank you Camille for making me aware of this product).

It is so easy to put on, pretty much mistake-proof, feels like a dream and hasn't clogged any of my pores yet!

The brushes are A-MA-ZING! They feel so good, and in a normal makeup store, would be the price of the starter kit all by themselves.

Love it, love it love it!

I wonder....am I too "dim" to be insulted?

Women vs. Women

This article is one of the most insulting articles I've read, and its written by a woman! Sigh....I have about fifty different rants on this, and can't decide which one to put down.

I guess I just stick to the fact that she is in every way, wrong. And that this article probably comes more from how much she hates her own life, rather than anything based in reality.

I would think that it actually denotes some form of intelligence that what some women choose to get overexcited about is a political personage and his movement, rather than over a sports game that has no solid effect on our lives and country.

I would think that its seen as showing better judgement that when we blow up its in small ways that don't totally screw us and merely result in embarrassment.

I would think that the fact that women have different types of intelligence than men could be actually useful, rather than being seen as lacking.

But then, I'm a women, so I guess I should just "shriek and swoon and gossip and read chick lit to our hearts' content and not mind the fact that way down deep, we can be . . . kind of dim."

Yeah, like that's gonna happen.

We might actually do this!

So most of you know we found a great apartment in Van Nuys that would let us save $350 a month towards a down payment for a house. Some of you know that we got approved for that apartment, and now need a $1600 deposit to secure it. The rest is this:

We "discovered" (I pretty much knew this already, but now its clear) that until July 14 (the end of our lease), we can move, but we have to pay rent until there's a new tenant. So we're not moving until there's someone moving in. There is no way we're paying double rent. HOWEVER, we did show the house to three people yesterday, two of which said they could move in June 1st. So, it looks like it just needs those people to apply for the house, be approved and then one of them putting in THEIR security deposit. Cause if we don't have to pay rent for June, then that's $1600 that can go to the new apartment. We'd still have to scramble, and maybe even borrow a bit for a couple weeks, but this is totally doable. :D

So we are starting to pack some, and keeping the place uber clean, and who knows...by June we may live somewhere totally new!

Coolest website!

I found this great website for buying and selling homemade crafts:
ESTY!

They have a ton of people selling all sorts of stuff they've made, and they even have a section called "Alchemy" where people can request goods to be made and crafters can submit bids as to how much it will cost.

Its so cool!!!! I could just surf there all day seeing the creative stuff people come up with.

The bonus is that now I have a place I can sell the random things that I've been thinking of making during my time on the metro. :)

WEEEEEEE!

O.M.G.

So, I bought a food processor online from a guy on craigslist. I swear he sounded like some stoner. He kept telling me about his old roommate, and what he was like, and his friend who gave him the food processor, and why that happened and what he was like, and all I needed to know was the address to come pick up the frikkin food processor.
And then, when I call to let him know I'm double parked downstairs, he's trying to sell me other stuff he has on craigslist, which I don't need. (Seriously, who needs empty cigar boxes?) When I pick up the food processor, and he's telling me how great it is, and how he made sure it was clean and stuff....which is great and all, but I'm double parked and someone is beeping for me to move. And I'm totally surpised that he's like 60 (or maybe 50 but drugs have aged him) cause he really does sound totally out of it.
And then this morning, I open my email, and there's one from him
so I'm thinking: oh, he must be thanking me for the transaction

Here's what he sent me:
"Hi Katy.....I just wanted to let you know that I thought you were real cute. I really like redheads."

EEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
(Note:he's 60 - see above)
(Second Note: I did not shorten or paraphrase his email. That's the whole thing)

New directions

What a great weekend! for those you who forget how luxurious a whole two days off is, let me tell you: its amazing! Two days where you can sleep in, do whatever you want, rest, play, whatever. Oh dear lord....I was overwhelmed, I kept feeling like it was going to be taken away at the last minute with something that absolutely HAD to get done NOW. So, so sweet.

Now, at work, everything seems so much easier (sleep does that I hear.)

What few things I did do this weekend were awesome. Cindy and I made Killer Shrimp. So easy, and so amazingly good! It takes forever to make, but its SO GOOD! And then, Sunday I spent the day with Mom, which was awesome. Really nice to just hang out and talk and be with her.

But I think the best thing came on Sunday night, where I got frustrated with Jeremy for no good reason (I still don't know what caused it exactly.) But right then, my Dad called and I talked to him about it, and he had a great suggestion: take a stand that we can both be inspired by as a couple. This is basically saying something will be: you take a stand that you will graduate by 2010. Its something that only happens because you say it will. And it can be quantifiable, like graduating, or more etherial, like being a generous and open person. But either way, it happens because you say it happens.

So, after much talking, both of us said what we really wanted to say at the beginning: Our stand is that we will buy a house by May 2009. We will be homeowners!
And as soon as we said it, we started thinking about how to do it, and how helpful it will be when the real estate market comes back. And then we thought, instead of renewing our lease, maybe we should suck it up and live somewhere smaller for a year, and save the extra rent as part of our down payment, so we looked online, and found two places immediately that could work. Having three pets limits us, but still, if we could save a few hundred a month....so, we'll find a place. And it will be totally perfect for us.

Yay! Homeownership!

Stop that Bus!

Today, I come out of the subway station, and guess what.....my bus stop is blocked (again) by barricades. This time, P. Diddy is getting (read: bought himself) a star on the Walk of Fame. And his star is right next to my bus stop.

Ok, no problem, there's an alternate bus stop set up. I'll just find the stop at Hollywood and Hawthorne and it'll be good.

10 minutes later: Where the EFF is Hollywood and Hawthorne?!?!!!!?! I ask everyone (they are all tourists, cause its Friday) and finally I find someone (one of the bodyguards) who tells me "the sign is wrong. Its HIGHLAND and Hawthorne." DAMN!

Ok, now I've found the stop at Highland and Hawthorne. So far so good. And hey! The bus is almost here! Awesome! I'll just....wait. Wait! Where are you going?! That's the wrong bus stop! You're supposed to come here!! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT! (You get the picture)

Basically, the bus went to the normal stop, on the other block. And now I have to decide, is the next bus (in 15 min) going to do the same thing, or is it going to go to alternate bus stop? Cause its impossible to wait at both, they are too far apart. EFF!

Cue guardian angel: "You wanna split a cab?"
Me:"I only have a visa card."
Angel (named Sherman, bartender at Wolfgang Pucks): "Oh, well, if the cab doesn't take Visa, I'll just cover it."
My hero!

So we made it to my stop, BEFORE THE BUS DID! And he was able to leave the cab and catch the bus at my stop, thus saving him $15 more cab fare.

They day was saved.

No thanks to P.Diddy.


NOTE: At lunch today I watched three buses from my line take the alternate route around the star ceremony. THREE.
I guess they finally figured out no one is waiting at the other bus stop. >P

Foam toting mama!

Jeremy bought me a foam battle ax from these guys while he was at GAMA, as a 'desk decoration.' Love my hubby.

I set it out Friday on last week, and couple people commented. It was fun. But today, a bunch of the higher ups saw it, and started playing and said, "Wow, this is just like the stuff they use in that group...you know...they made a movie about themselves..." and I'm like "Darkon?" "Yeah! Hey, are you a part of that?" Etc etc....no I'm not a part of that group, but we may be part of one in LA soon, and no, I haven't seen the film....

They all walked out of the office talking about Darkon and how fun the movie was and how LARPing looked like fun too. Boy I felt cool!

Now I guess I just have to actually do it....or have Jeremy do it.

(ps. I snuck in a mention of The Gamers to my boss in the convo. Woot to the DG!)

JAM!

I made Strawberry jam on Sunday! It was so easy. I even chose to make the 'harder' cooking required jam instead of the freezer kind. Totally easy, and great for gifts and stuff. And I'm not intimidated by the idea of canning anymore, which was the whole point of the exercise.

I figure, with everything I've planted, I'll have way more harvest than I can eat, so I should learn to freeze and can everything, and jam was my very first canning. I bought myself a big pot to heat the jars in, and, with the help of my knowledgable husband (who had canned before) we have eight perfect jars of jam!

I know, I know...how much fun can jam be? but I had a blast and have a huge sense of accomplishment. I can't wait until I see rows of canned and pickled vegetables from my very own garden on the shelves!

Fabulous HAT!

Some of the fabulous costumes from the movie The Fall just arrived (they'll be on display at The Landmark) and I got to try on this amazingly GORGEOUS hat. (if you watch the trailer, its the white hat with all the crystal dangles on it!) I'll make Jeremy help me post the pic up here, cause its so fun! :) YAY for working in the movie industry!

Yoga

Today I did half an hour of an hour class, and it focused a LOT on stretching my hips...its taken until 3:30 pm today for my hips to feel normal again! Yes, they feel good, but ow!!! I had to rest multiple times during the class....hmmm, I guess my hips are stiffer than I thought! (no comments boys!)

Requested to Blog

So, its been too long since I wrote something, I'm told, so here goes:

Work is working out fine. I like the people in the office and its so much more interesting than accounting for some boring manufacturing company or something like that. I do have a lot of work now, cause I'm spending all this time cleaning up mistakes that my predesessor made. ARG. I think I'm almost done with that though.

We also have several more movies coming out, so things are already starting to pick up, and will get really crazy busy in the near future. This is the latest release: The Fall - May 9

I had a great time this week, hanging out with Cindy and enjoying my space with Jeremy gone at GAMA, but I am also looking forward to tonight when I get to see him again. :) I miss my husband!

Ooh, I ordered BareMinerals foundation on Tuesday, so I'm really looking forward to getting it. My skin looks so red today. I also ordered some books on canning and a jam recipe book. I'm gonna buy a ton of strawberries at the farmer's market on Sunday ($6 for a flat!) and make jam and stuff. Get myself trained and ready for when the tomato plants explode with fruit. :)we have five so far in our plot and will probably have another two or three....plus some I have at home too....Tomatomania!

Things I get paid to do

Chat online
Research stuff for my garden
Send jokes to my friends
Talk about sustainability and politics with my boss
Read random news and surf the web
Blog
Watch screeners of movies (ok, this one is kinda work related)

and, in the near future, possibly:
watch TV
play poker
crochet

Don't get me wrong, I work......when there's work. But we're so slow right now that I have to find anything I can to keep from going insane from boredom. And my boss Paul is pretty cool. He says if everyone else gets paid for a full day (salary), then I should too. :)

It will be great when I have more work....then I can complain about that instead. ;)

Good exercise

So I take the metro to work. And its usually great. But today, my bus driver was off in her own little world and didn't stop at my stop (and yes, I did pull the stop chain, and yes, the sign at the front of the bus did say 'stop requested') So what did she do? She said I'd have to wait until the next stop, and then get on another bus to go back to my original one. Arg! Very frustrating.

And then, as I'm walking to the bus stop, I realize I only did 10 minutes of yoga today, and some exercise would probably be good, and in any case Sunset doesn't look that far away (I'm on Santa Monica and Fairfax, for those who know the area.) Sure its uphill, sure its a warm day, but why not?

10 minutes later, I'm at what I thought was Susnet. Nope, its Fountain, and I still have another 10 minutes to go....arg again!

It ended up being a good walk, and good exercise, but not something I'm doing again any time soon. Fairfax is all uphill and it is HARD!

Massive Update

So its been forever since I wrote. Here's the lowdown: Gram died and we had her memorial on Feb. 15. It was beautiful, and though I miss her a lot, I know she's with me. Also, I got a new job as a Staff Accountant at Roadside Attractions (indie film distribution), which is awesome. Everybody's nice and low key, and as Paul, the controller and my immediate boss, told me: 'the owners have made it a very humane place to work.' Super flexible and kind. :) They also pay what I was looking for, so that's a huge plus.

I'm still teaching voice, and trying to figure out how to work it in around my job. I'm not working ren fair this year, though I will be visiting a lot.

And now to current events:
This weekend Jeremy and I went to the Grove to see 21 with Camile, Matt, Cindy and Don. Awesomely fun movie. We also had a blast at the Grove. The guys did guys stuff, and we girls got our makeup done at the MAC counter in Nordstrom's. I love MAC, cause they only hire makeup artists to work their counters, so they know what they're doing. No walking out looking like a hooker. :)

It was totally funny though, cause halfway through, this woman comes up to one of the artists and starts talking to him, and then starts talking to us, like she totally knows us! And she kept changing topics, like she couldn't keep anything straight. An she wouldn't go away or take a hint. Too weird. She was nice enough, but weird. I am totally looking forward to going back to the MAC counter....hopefully without our new friend.

Jer and I also stumbled upon a lot sale at NBC for the show Passions: all the costumes, furniture, props....VERY COOL. We got a bunch of amazing high end stuff for less than $60 total! It was a lot like shopping a flea market, but it was worth it.

The Secret

Last week, Jeremy and I were both very down and stressed, what with neither business bringing in much money, and Gram dying, and general everything. It was awful.....so, after a general kick to head which we gave each other, and which also came from family and friends (love you guys!), we decided to rewatch the Secret on YouTube. Well, the first 20 minutes at least....that's all they have on there, and you have to get your hands on a copy of the movie to watch the rest.

Anyway, ever since then, life has been so much easier. Not only did we both get a ton of emotional crap out and gone, but we haven't been letting stuff get to us. Today I started out the day feeling just awful. I tried so hard to feel good about myself and my abilities, but it just wasn't happening...so I went to the secret's website to see if I could find some suggestion of a solution. Low and behold, I totally did. (I know, I'm surprised too) I found a game that ends with some inspirational saying, and mine was completely what I needed. To paraphrase:

Let go of negative feelings and allow positive things to flow into your life. Remember the beauty and gifts around you and open up to the highest energy in the universe - love

I read that, and even as part of me was saying "whatever" the other part was starting to remember what I love about my life, my self, my house...and before I knew it, I felt better. And then Jeremy suggested we watch an episode of BattleStar (oh darn....do I HAVE to?) Of course I want to! From there, my day has gone amazingly. I found two more jobs to apply for, that I am totally qualified and perfect for, which makes five applications so far. I'm applying for two a day, even though I'm getting the first one I applied for, and by the time I get the job, Jeremy will have already made us money for the next three months. :) Still, best to keep on plugging, and be prepared for however it works out.

Love to everyone out there! Especially to my family and friends! And yay for seeing friends on Sunday for gaming!!

Hard Times

So I wanted to let everyone know that my Gram is in the hospital, and very very sick. Possibly, and probably terminal. She has a very serious and dangerous infection that is in her bloodstream as is also fighting some type of metastatic cancer in her liver and bones, though none of the doctors will be more specific than that, so we don't know if she has years, months or days.

Jeremy and I are handling it as best as we can, and will be visiting her a lot in the coming days. Please pray for her, if you pray, or send loving thoughts her way. She will appreciate it.

Good Day!

Jeremy's business is booming! While no completed contracts yet, several offers have been made, a few have been accepted, and we even have someone who might be interested in one, if it goes through! And its only Tuesday!

On other notes, I just went to the doctor and am happy to report everything is hunky-dory over here. A little raise in my thyroid meds is all I needed, and the doc thinks that in three months, I'll be able to come off of just about everything but the thyroid (which will take six to nine months, maybe)

And to top it all off, major carnage and adventure is expected tonight, as we are gaming with the Vancils and the Earlys! Yay!

Crazy cats

Ok, so I just have to write about this:

I just bought some new mini mice for our orange cat Jack cause he's bored, and when he's bored, he destroys stuff. Not good.

So I throw out a mouse and both of my cats go after it. Ok, I'll just throw another one for Jenna. Nope. Jack picks up both in his mouth at once. No mouse for Jenna. :( Maybe I'll throw one more mouse. Jack still runs after it, and grabs it first. So now, Jack has two mice in his mouth, and a third that keeps falling out (he keeps trying tho), and he's growling at Jenna "MY MICE!" Frickin hysterical.

Waiting on the edge of my seat

Last Saturday we went to a fabulous CashFlow game and REI seminar (If you haven't played CashFlow, then call me....cause its awesome, especially with lots of people.) At this seminar, we heard an investor named Virginia Swanson speak. Now, we've heard her before. We actually went to a seminar in Van Nuys where she was and it was awful. Everyone there seemed to be noobs who didn't have a clue as to how investing in real estate actually worked, but they thought they could make money anyway. They were all negative, closed off people, who didn't want to network, or work together or talk about strategies or anything. Lame. This is a PEOPLE business!

Anyway, when we heard Virginia that night, I had to say I really liked her strategies for Short Sales (homes about to be foreclosed on). She had figured out how to make a profit while letting the family keep their home and live in it free for a year! It was awesome and really inspiring - like, that's why I was interested in this business to begin with! But we didn't sign up for her mentor program, cause the energy was so negative, all we had in our heads was "not now." Seriously, that club kept us away from REI clubs for somewhere like two months....we completely gave in to the "not now, later" mentality, as far as REI clubs went anyway.

So last week, when we saw her again, it was great. Lots of positivity and we could really listen to her instead of listening to the resistance in the room. So naturally we signed up to interview for her mentorship program. Yay! Then we had our qualifying interview. Yay! Then she told us how much it would cost.....Now, she's really cheap compared to what other people charge, but we have a limited income this month, so there really isn't a way for us to pay for the training and mentorship, even if it is a great deal.

Here's where it gets cool though: Virginia saw potential in Jeremy, lots of potential, so she said she'd train him for free if he found her a specific property. As soon as she closes on it, he gets training. So what did he do? He found six in two days! (at least six ...I haven't got a recent count) He's at this week's CashFlow game right now and I'm totally interested in what Virginia is going to say about his property finds. Awesomeness!

Some of you might be saying, "But don't you already have a mentor? He's coming out in a couple weeks, right?" Yes, we do have a mentor coming out for three days of training and hand holding, so that will be cool, but then he's gone, and its all up to us. Virginia's mentorship isn't for a week or a month, its lifetime, so she can pick up where he leaves off! And she's based in Glendale, so she knows this market intimately. I'm really excited, cause I know this is going to happen. And its going to push us forward so fast.....I'm almost a little scared. But still, yay!

Starting the New Year right

So Jeremy is working at home now, and I'm starting off the new year with a bunch of new students, as well as a ton of end of year bookkeeping to do....I went from being fairly on top of it all to 'crap! where did all these extra files come from!' Which I guess is good, cause the extra money I get from entering the extra files into Quickbooks is pretty nice and definitely helpful right now. I'm sending in my SLS certification fees on Friday, so by Wednesday next week I should be on the website as certified and have been sent my certificate for the year. Yay!!!

I'm sorry to say that with all this change and flux going on, not to mention all the time spent with friends and family (taking advantage while the holiday is good!), my garden has been sorely neglected, and I haven't done much crochet either. The one thing I don't much like about the holidays is that feeling I get every year that I've fallen behind. I guess its because I work for myself, so I can't just leave my work on a desk and be back in two weeks. Or, well, I could, but if I don't work for two weeks I don't get paid for two weeks, and getting momentum again takes work. I know I'm driving Jeremy up the wall with my "We're behind!!" energy, but he takes it in stride, and calms me down in the process.

This year is sure to be an interesting one, which leads me to wonder if we aren't caught up in that most dire of curses from the Auriental continent which translated is "May your life be an interesting one." Personally, I think we're gonna be just fine.