I've spent most of the weekend writing, in the end... And not cleaning up, which is what I had planned to do. There's always tomorrow, I guess. (I do at least need to sweep...)

I played some Hearts, as well. Got through Hisui going off to sulk and Richea throwing herself off the boat after him, and my Richea-love has been pretty much decided. She's awesome. (I'm currently on that weird mountain with the random electricity-ball-things, which I hate. And I don't have Hisui at the moment, since he got himself and Kunzite and Richea blown to the middle of nowhere, which is annoying, because I always play as Hisui. [Wish they'd quit breaking up the party all the time...] I've been playing as Innes, which is actually quite fun. She's slow, but man, her attacks deal out a hell of a lot of damage... I just wish Kohak would bother to heal more often. Playing as Hisui, I've been doing most of the healing myself while playing, and it's annoying now to have to rely on someone else. I could play as Kohak, but when I tried that before, I was dying on a regular basis. I need to practice with her.)

...Ramble, ramble, ramble.

I got pumpernickel bread at Fresh Market yesterday. Nothing better. I don't go out to Fresh Market a lot because it's close to a 30 minute drive from my house, and I have to go on the interstate to get there, and it's expensive, but I occasionally treat myself to a trip. They have escargot, and the most interesting kinds of breads, and milk in bottles. I am fond of milk in bottles...

Back to Hearts now. Let's get Hisui back quickly, shall we?

So, this weekend, do I go back to trying to get through the first six Final Fantasy games, or do I do that Tales of Eternia speedrun I've been considering for awhile now? Or just try to finish Hearts?

Decisions, decisions...

Well, actually first I clean up the house. It should definitely be clean when PHILIP GETS HERE NEXT MONTH.

...Oh, did I forget to mention?

Yeah. We got an embassy appointment. May 11.

And I'll write about work at some point. Suffice to say, I've survived almost two weeks, and haven't quit, so something must be going right, right?

I want to write, but I'm so tired tonight that I doubt I'd be able to concentrate.

So I'll save it for tomorrow. If I can sort of stoke up this particular feeling, I'll be desperate to write by the time I get to Jackson, and that will keep me from getting antsy and anxious in the evening.

Tomorrow is going to be weird. Monday is probably going to be weirder, but at least at the end of it, I'll know what to expect.

For my cubicle so far: my Shigure bobblehead (unless he stays in my car -- haven't decided yet), my little purple Buddha, and some combination (depending on how it works out) of these things from Northern Sun:

http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/4436.html
http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/5286.html
http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/5081.html
http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/5179.html
http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/5411.html

Those all seemed to me to fall enough into the "pleasant and uplifting!" category that they won't offend anyone -- and I was careful to stay away from anything blatantly political or religious.

(I'm also ordering this and this for home -- the former because I've always liked it and I need more stuff on the [lime green] walls in my writing room, the latter because I don't think it would go over well on my car or in an office.)

I've just started reading Ha Jin's War Trash, and so far, it's excellent. I love the way he writes.

It's sad.

What I'm most looking forward to about Monday is getting a cubicle.

I want to put up more bumper stickers there. (One can never have too many bumper stickers. One just eventually runs out of actual bumper space. Whoops.)

Time to go spend more money on Northern Sun.

Stolen from egb_chan.

These are some creepy pictures, but the quiz was fun.

( Wotcher, I suppose. )

...Now maybe I should try to find something semi-productive to do.

( Not staged, I swear. :P )

Went to Jackson yesterday, and I was disappointed that my DSi wasn't waiting for me. Guess it will arrive in the next couple of days, and I can have fun with it next week. (Not like I need one... but I had enough money for one, so I thought I would treat myself, particularly since I was supposed to go to Toronto this Sunday, but work scuppered that pretty damn well.) I did get my Snoopy that midnafeathers sent me. <3 He's adorable -- he's wearing a blue shirt. He goes on my writing desk. (I need to take a picture of that. It's such a wonderful piece of furniture...)

I'm ordering rugs, finally -- two of these, a runner for the hall in the blue-and-yellow and an 8x11 in the bright multi for the living room. Hopefully this will mean less time spent sweeping all that damn wood.

And for some reason, I felt an urge to play Lost in Blue again. Why, I don't know, because that game annoyed the crap out of me when I played it a couple of years ago. Maybe I can figure out how to steal things from Little Miss Helpless this time, so she can't hog things I need. That pretty much screwed me of being able to do anything last time. (I was playing the second one then -- maybe the first makes it easier to get things from her? Or maybe you don't need to? Here's hoping...)

Jamie is on her back laying across my feet and diagonally, Shizel is on her side against my leg, and her head is on Jamie's tail.

...Maybe peace will eventually reign. They're doing well.

I think I will take both of them to Jackson with me. Shizel can stay in one of the spare bedrooms while I'm at work until I'm sure she and Jamie can co-exist peacefully.

They're so lazy. I do wish I had a camera right now.

Now, to make this a slightly more interesting entry...

I'm almost through playing Tales of Hearts. Finally got Richea -- yay! I'd been waiting to meet her. I like her voice, and watching her and Hisui is funny. I have a feeling this is one of those games that I'll immediately start again when I finish it.

And speaking of replaying things, I started The World Ends With You again -- I finished it in about 3 days when it came out, so got a little burned out on it and never finished the back story stuff at the end. So I'm going to play through it all again -- refresh myself on how to use all those pins and things -- and try to get 100% completion this time. I know it's one I can play for just a few minutes at a time and put down, so it might be a good one to keep going while I'm getting used to things over the next few weeks. Sometimes, familiarity is good in entertainment when nothing else is familiar.

Jamie just rolled over. Guess I won't be getting a picture. You'll just have to trust me that it happened. ;-)

So in her continuing quest to prove herself Queen of Her New House (And Eventually the World), Shizel the Cat spent most of the afternoon sound asleep on my shoulder. She crawled up there twice, curled up, and went to sleep. The first time, she actually slid down, so she was face first on my arm, and never woke up. ;-D She sleeps soundly -- she also barely stirs when I pick her up if she's asleep. She is going to be one laaaaaaaaaazy beast.

I've been spoiling Jamie a bit to show her she's not second fiddle. She got an extra (small) Greenie, and I got her some of the treats she loves at Wal-Mart, and she got to spend most of the day upstairs with me (when she's here at my parents', she spends some of her time, usually, out in the sunroom with the other dogs -- which is where she prefers to be if I'm not around, but she does like to lay around with me).

I'm debating now whether to take her with me to Jackson, too. (Obviously, I'm not going to leave her and Shizel alone together while I'm at work, at least not until I know they're 100% okay with each other). I just feel so guilty when I leave her, even if I'm doing it because I think she'll be a lot happier here until I can get settled and then get her into a routine. *sigh* But I want her with me. I could always try to get up very early to give her a walk before work -- I start at 8 during classes -- and then one after, too, but I'm worried I'm going to be exhausted that first week...

Maybe I'll go down there in a few days and take both pets, and see how they do. Try that schedule -- getting up at around 5:30 for a walk -- and see if it works. If it looks like I'm going to have to regroup after I start, I'll still have time to bring Jamie back here. I'm still going to look into daycare for her. Actually... I should do that right now.

And then I'm going to watch Fruits Basket and then I'm going to play Pokemon Platinum. Because I need to relax. Much as I love getting a new pet, it does lead to some stress. ;-D

( More pictures... )

(Sorry they're not great -- I don't have anything but my phone to take pictures with.)

Jamie really can't figure out why she's not allowed to sniff -- oblivious to how it looks when GIANT DOG NOSE comes right at you. So she's gotten whacked on the nose again, and again she went into howling, crying, running to me, "HELP ME HELP ME THAT THING'S AFTER ME." Pathetic.

But they did sniff each other a bit this morning, so they're okay. They also both spent most of the night on the bed with me, and seemed content to be there.

( Meet Shizel )

Adopted today. She was a compromise for me and for Jamie -- she can come with me to Jackson immediately (Jamie is going to stay in Greenwood with my parents the first week I'm working, for her sake as much as mine, after which point, hopefully, I'll have settled into my schedule enough that I can help her get adjusted to it), and when Jamie comes, she'll have companionship.

Jamie is in love with this strange new creature, wants nothing more than to be friends. (For which I'm proud of her! She's gotten much, much, much better with other animals in the last couple of years. It's been hard work, but it's paid off.) Shizel... isn't so sure, but she's slowly warming up to Jamie. I think she realized when she swiped her across the nose (without claws) and Jamie practically threw herself out of the room, yelping and crying, that Jamie is not going to fight for dominance. They've been cool with each other since, though Jamie's a little wary now. They're both asleep on the bed next to me, less than six inches away from each other, perfectly content. :-D

Anyway, she's about four months old, rescued from Oxford as yet another casualty of the Ole Miss "disposable pet" crowd (not saying this is an Ole Miss-only problem, of course), the students who adopt pets and then dump them when they go home for Christmas or summer. The people who feed the feral cats around campus tend to pick up quite a few around those times of year who are clearly former pets, and they're taken to shelters, usually 9 Lives, a cat rescue in Oxford. So she came from there. As you can see from the picture, she's solid black, and she has the most amazing bright-yellow eyes, which were what first struck me. She's incredibly mellow, very laidback and relaxed, though she does have her playful moments, as one of my fingers can already attest, because she decided it looked like a great scratching post. Ouch.

Oh, and "Shizel," for those who don't know, is the main villain in Tales of Eternia. When that dark cat-face looked at me with those bright cat-eyes, my first thought was "...Shizel." So Shizel she is.

I'm reading linguistics textbooks. God, I love it.

...That's all, really. I'm too exhausted generally to think of anything else to say.

Maybe I'll consider linguistics programs as well as law school a few years down the road. Either would be fun and interesting.

So... I got the job I interviewed for at DDS.

Level 1 Disability Examiner, starting at $26k, full benefits and retirement (including health insurance for Philip, when he finally gets here. Which is good, because it would be almost impossible for him to get it privately, and there's no guarantee that his own job will provide it), 12 hours vacation time accrued each month, and once the first eight weeks of training classes are over, flexible hours between 7AM and 6PM. (So I could go in at ~7 and be out by early afternoon...! Which would mean plenty of time in the afternoon to write.)

I couldn't ask for anything better with my resume and the economy the way it is. It's also a position where there's the possibility of rising quickly, adding $10k+ to salary within four years, so if we stay in Jackson even just five or six years... (After that point, I think it will be time to start pursuing higher education again.)

I am pleased. Very pleased. :-)

...I opted not to get Trooper (the dog). After giving it a lot of thought, I think I'd be more comfortable trying to introduce a new dog into Jamie's "space" with Philip here to help me. Even though she doesn't mind the dogs at all at my parents' house, she's only had to deal with Finnis in Jackson, and that was very briefly, so I'm not sure how well she'll do. I'd rather have someone on hand to help me out.

I'm debating on whether to go for a greyhound from West Memphis, or try something new. (I know what I'm getting with a greyhound, basically, and I know I love them.)

It's been three years since Edgar died, speaking of greyhounds. Doesn't feel like that long... But that also means we've had Jamie for three years. Time does fly.

This is a pretty pointless post, but I don't want people to think I've fallen off the face of the earth again. Maybe I'll write about what I'm reading tomorrow or... something a little more interesting.

Going to meet this cute guy on Friday. With Jamie. See how they get along. :-) I've already been approved for adoption by CARA, so if they do get along (and if he likes me, of course), maybe I can bring him home in the near future.

Isn't he lovely? I think his colouring is gorgeous. <3 I'd love to have a Staffie around again. I want a wriggly boy to go with my regal girl. :-D

I am distinctly unhappy that the Saiyuki musical appears to be available on DVD only through Animate's website.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

:-(

I do wish I could do more to help people.

I hate feeling helpless.

(I've felt it a lot lately, but it's mostly been selfish, regarding the visa issue. I finally broke as far as that went the other day -- shaking, crying, hyperventilating; fun stuff like that. The anxiety got to a level I just couldn't take anymore.

I really don't want to go into all the details of what happened after that, because I'm very tired tonight, but things were dealt with with some help from us and from others, so it's better now -- or slowly getting better; the anxiety hasn't just magically disappeared -- but I still got to breaking point before that all went through.)

It hasn't been a great start to the new year, but I hope that means things can only get better. Maybe by the end of the year, all that's been building will be settled, firm foundation, and it will be time to think of the future. I'm ready for things I never thought I would be. (Namely, of course... maybe kids. So, yeah, those who said it would happen, you were right, shut up.)

But still, I wish I could help people. And that eats away at me more than anything else. My sheer helplessness when it comes to other people, my inability to offer them... anything, really.

So much I wish I could do, and so little, at least now, that I can. *sigh*

I need to be banned from bookstores.

Particularly nearly-empty (of people) ones where I can wander at leisure for hours on end.

...Now I'm really going to have to ship some of my stuff back to the US. No way can I get all this crap into one suitcase and a backpack.

*Lacks willpower*

*Loves those neat little packages of paper and ink*

So Christmas Eve was the six-month mark for Philip's visa application. That means we should hear something about a visa appointment pretty soon (since it's based on date filed originally, not date received at the NVC).

Now I'm just absolutely terrified that something will go wrong. That we'll get a jerk at some point, someone as suspicious as the woman I dealt with -- all it takes is one person deciding to say "no," as far as I can tell, and you're basically screwed. Yeah, you can appeal, but even so, you know it would always pop up anytime we tried to go anywhere, if it was actually approved through appeal, and... Oh, I'm already terrified of passport control. I wish this could just be over and done with. I'm so anxious generally I'm making myself sick.

I'm trying to think of what we'll do when -- not if -- he does get approved and gets through. Maybe go to IHOP, then somewhere where we can buy all the American candy we can eat, then... I don't know. But just revel in, at least for a little while, not having to worry about this anymore.

I'm planning to stay put for awhile. As much as I love traveling, I think I'll stick to the US (and possibly Canada) for the near future, because I need to get over my fear of dealing with the passport piranhas. (Next time I go anywhere, I'm taking every piece of paper ever issued to me. Back to my enrollment in kindergarten... Watch me.) I'm certainly going to be flying through Norwich rather than London from now on, even if it means a longer flight since you have to go through Amsterdam. They're pleasant at Norwich Airport.

Still four hours until my birthday, and I already got one highly amazing present from midnafeathers. Roadie is my god. <3 <3 <3 My sparkly god.

Anyway...

Boxing Day. Had a very nice talk with Philip's Aunt Fiona about stories and fanfiction and writing in general, and she's said she'd like to have a look at what I've got up on FP, which made me happy. (Just because someone showed an interest -- there's no connection to anything bigger. I'm happy with a little attention, nothing more. ;-) )

Going out tomorrow night with family and john_pullinger and whitewolf_707, so that should be fun. And for my cake, I've requested chocolate with buttercream and raspberries. Three of my favourite things. :-D Rather than going somewhere on the first shopping day here after Christmas (since everything was shut today), I think I'd prefer to just sit around the house when it's empty of everyone but myself and Philip, and enjoy not having to pretend to be interested in people. Maybe read and not have to worry about being interrupted...

Oh, and we did a quiz for his family tonight, and that went over really well, so maybe we'll do that every time we're here for the holidays. Because it sure beat playing their awful board games...!