Last night I'm sitting in the living room watching some stupid show on TV when suddenly a bat flies over me and up the stairs with Poof Tail chasing after it. I follow them upstairs to find the bat frantically flying around George's room and Poof Tail trying to catch it. I open a window in that room, get the cat out of the room, and close the door.
A few minutes later, the bat flies over my head again. BATS ARE SNEAKY. It wasn't in that room anymore. So I go back upstairs, close the window again, and watch the bat fly around and try to dive bomb my head. It is clearly not a happy bat.
But it settles down and finds a perch to hang upside down on, and goes to sleep. I open the door to the porch and hope it will fly out over night.
I wake up in the morning and head out without seeing the bat, so I assume it is gone. Nope. I sit down a few minutes ago and the bat starts flying over my head again, then attaches itself to the light track. Sigh.
Just called the NOVA Bat rescue league to figure out what to do. Event if it weren't WAY TOO HOT to leave any windows or doors open right now, apparently you aren't supposed to release bats during the day anyway. (According to their website). So I am waiting for a call back and hoping the bat doesn't bite any of the animals, and that the cats don't catch the bat. It is pretty cute, even if it does like dive bombing me.
Last night a friend told me I should consider the bat a good omen.
This morning I emailed a guy about "center pavilion" tickets to the sold out Mumford and Sons show tomorrow.
He called me today and told me that he had found someone who was going to buy all four of them, but when he met up with the person they were only able to get two and I had emailed at exactly the right time. I expected "center pavilion" to mean waaaaaay in the back in the center of one of the side sections. They are actually box seats. I got two for $120!
Maybe the little guy is a good omen.
Now to make sure all of the windows really are closed, for the sake of the air conditioning and the bat.
A few minutes later, the bat flies over my head again. BATS ARE SNEAKY. It wasn't in that room anymore. So I go back upstairs, close the window again, and watch the bat fly around and try to dive bomb my head. It is clearly not a happy bat.
But it settles down and finds a perch to hang upside down on, and goes to sleep. I open the door to the porch and hope it will fly out over night.
I wake up in the morning and head out without seeing the bat, so I assume it is gone. Nope. I sit down a few minutes ago and the bat starts flying over my head again, then attaches itself to the light track. Sigh.
Just called the NOVA Bat rescue league to figure out what to do. Event if it weren't WAY TOO HOT to leave any windows or doors open right now, apparently you aren't supposed to release bats during the day anyway. (According to their website). So I am waiting for a call back and hoping the bat doesn't bite any of the animals, and that the cats don't catch the bat. It is pretty cute, even if it does like dive bombing me.
Last night a friend told me I should consider the bat a good omen.
This morning I emailed a guy about "center pavilion" tickets to the sold out Mumford and Sons show tomorrow.
He called me today and told me that he had found someone who was going to buy all four of them, but when he met up with the person they were only able to get two and I had emailed at exactly the right time. I expected "center pavilion" to mean waaaaaay in the back in the center of one of the side sections. They are actually box seats. I got two for $120!
Maybe the little guy is a good omen.
Now to make sure all of the windows really are closed, for the sake of the air conditioning and the bat.
Time for a new post!
I graduated from Massage School a week ago today. It feels really good to actually have finished something. I know I have been pretty bad at it in the past. I would get scared of life and run away. I have a tendency to forget how strong I actually am. Luckily I never stay down, however many times I may have given up before I always get back up and try again. And this time, I finished!
I have one more big step before I can really start practicing, I have to take (and pass) the national certification exam. My exam is set for the 31st of this month. I took a few days off from studying after finishing, but have been studying for at least a few hours every day since the beginning of this week. It is a 150 question test and you need a 70% to pass. I took a full length practice test online on Monday and got a 71.3%. I'd like to get up in to the 80-90% range on the practice tests before I go in to take mine.
My mom and I have been talking about going on a trip together to celebrate graduating for a couple of months... well, we're doing it. And bigger and more exciting than I expected. We are going to the UK for three weeks. The last week we'll be staying at a timeshare in Devon and my father will be joining us, but for the first (slightly over) two weeks mom and I will be on our own to do whatever we want. We are flying in and out of London, renting a car three days after we get there for the remainder of the time, and are going to see what we can. We really want to see Scotland and Ireland. Mom because she has never been (I haven't either, I have never been to the UK, mom has been to England), me because I want to go to the places that have made knitting what they are. Yes, I am that much of a dork. I also have friends in Birmingham, Sheffield, and London that hopefully I will be able to see while we are there.
Yesterday was 11 months since George died. Last month would have been his 24th Birthday. We had a party at our house in his memory. I thought it would be really depressing, but it was actually really nice. A few friends of mine I hadn't seen in a really long time came to support me. We sat in my living room playing Apples to Apples and had a lot of fun.
My body has been doing some strange things. I haven't had a period since February. We are trying to figure out why. They are currently doing an amenorrhea panel, checking my hormone levels coming out of my anterior pituitary and thyroid. We aren't sure if I have stopped ovulating for some reason, and if I have if it is permanent or not. (Hopefully not, I don't want to be an infertile 26 year old).
Somehow my DVR erased the most recent episode of Doctor Who after I had only watched the first five minutes of it! This is no good! I had been looking forward to the Neil Gaiman episode for a long time!
Though, I will always love the 10th Doctor the best.
I graduated from Massage School a week ago today. It feels really good to actually have finished something. I know I have been pretty bad at it in the past. I would get scared of life and run away. I have a tendency to forget how strong I actually am. Luckily I never stay down, however many times I may have given up before I always get back up and try again. And this time, I finished!
I have one more big step before I can really start practicing, I have to take (and pass) the national certification exam. My exam is set for the 31st of this month. I took a few days off from studying after finishing, but have been studying for at least a few hours every day since the beginning of this week. It is a 150 question test and you need a 70% to pass. I took a full length practice test online on Monday and got a 71.3%. I'd like to get up in to the 80-90% range on the practice tests before I go in to take mine.
My mom and I have been talking about going on a trip together to celebrate graduating for a couple of months... well, we're doing it. And bigger and more exciting than I expected. We are going to the UK for three weeks. The last week we'll be staying at a timeshare in Devon and my father will be joining us, but for the first (slightly over) two weeks mom and I will be on our own to do whatever we want. We are flying in and out of London, renting a car three days after we get there for the remainder of the time, and are going to see what we can. We really want to see Scotland and Ireland. Mom because she has never been (I haven't either, I have never been to the UK, mom has been to England), me because I want to go to the places that have made knitting what they are. Yes, I am that much of a dork. I also have friends in Birmingham, Sheffield, and London that hopefully I will be able to see while we are there.
Yesterday was 11 months since George died. Last month would have been his 24th Birthday. We had a party at our house in his memory. I thought it would be really depressing, but it was actually really nice. A few friends of mine I hadn't seen in a really long time came to support me. We sat in my living room playing Apples to Apples and had a lot of fun.
My body has been doing some strange things. I haven't had a period since February. We are trying to figure out why. They are currently doing an amenorrhea panel, checking my hormone levels coming out of my anterior pituitary and thyroid. We aren't sure if I have stopped ovulating for some reason, and if I have if it is permanent or not. (Hopefully not, I don't want to be an infertile 26 year old).
Somehow my DVR erased the most recent episode of Doctor Who after I had only watched the first five minutes of it! This is no good! I had been looking forward to the Neil Gaiman episode for a long time!
Though, I will always love the 10th Doctor the best.
It has been three months since my little brother died.
Since then we had to put our Golden Retriever Magnolia to sleep. On August 5th. So in a period of two months I lost my cat, my little brother, and my dog. It has been a hard few months.
Time keeps ticking on, and every day it is just obvious that he is never coming back.
Things were exceptionally hard for awhile. Now... less so. But every day is still a struggle. My mom still cries every day. I, less so, but still frequently.
I haven't started back school yet. I'm not sure when I am going to. When I am ready.
My brother, George, earlier this year.
Since then we had to put our Golden Retriever Magnolia to sleep. On August 5th. So in a period of two months I lost my cat, my little brother, and my dog. It has been a hard few months.
Time keeps ticking on, and every day it is just obvious that he is never coming back.
Things were exceptionally hard for awhile. Now... less so. But every day is still a struggle. My mom still cries every day. I, less so, but still frequently.
I haven't started back school yet. I'm not sure when I am going to. When I am ready.
My brother, George, earlier this year.
I thought my cat dying sucked.
My little brother died.
He and his best friends were playing with guns and he accidentally got shot in the head. He's brain dead. They are harvesting all of his organs sometime in the next 24 hours or so. That will be the official time of death.
Don't play with guns everyone. No one else should lose a close family member or friend because of a stupid accident.
He was 23.
I just can't imagine anything in the world worse than this.
My little brother died.
He and his best friends were playing with guns and he accidentally got shot in the head. He's brain dead. They are harvesting all of his organs sometime in the next 24 hours or so. That will be the official time of death.
Don't play with guns everyone. No one else should lose a close family member or friend because of a stupid accident.
He was 23.
I just can't imagine anything in the world worse than this.
I haven't been around much. I think I have been frustrated with social networking sites, feeling as though people have started relying on them so much that I only ever hear from anyone in digital form anymore. When I am a person who much more prefers to talk to people or see people in person, or on the phone.
Just so all of you know, it is never appropriate when I call you and leave a message on your voicemail to respond to me via facebook. If I call you, it is because I actually want to talk to you. I mean, come on now.
But I miss you guys, so I figured I'd stop on by, actually post something more than a sentence long, see what you guys have been up to. Maybe keep up with this some. Though, granted, my account is going to expire sometime in.. July? And unless someone buys me a gift account or I submit a new set, I won't be renewing. I just can't afford it and I don't care enough at this point to pull the money together.
This weekend was busy for me. On Thursday/Friday I worked two concerts for Carbon Leaf, selling merch for them. One in Richmond, the other in Greensboro, NC. Both were really great shows. The Richmond show was outdoors and it was hot. It was threatening to rain the entire time, which was a huge relief. Luckily the huge downpour didn't start until about an hour after we had everything packed up. It was so funny, I merched with another woman that night. We started talking about knitting and she said "wait, I remember you. You were knitting a scarf waiting in line for a show at the 9:30 club. It was cold out." I thought for a moment and went "wait, you mean the show the day after Thanksgiving 2003?!" She remembered me from a conversation we had waiting in line for a concert six and a half years ago.
Earlier that week I had posted on their facebook page that I was merching these two shows for them, and that I thought they should reward me for my loyal dedication by playing Blue Ridge Laughing (my favorite song) on one of the nights. It is a song that they play live very rarely. I've seen them more than thirty times, and have seen them play it maybe twice in the past. Well, they played it during the Richmond show. I remember while they were playing it thinking to myself "I wonder if they already planned on playing it, or if they actually added it to their set list just for me?" Because I never in a million years thought that they'd do that, I had mostly been joking. Then, after the show ended and they had signed autographs and mingled with the crowd for awhile, Terry - the guitarist, came up to me while I was cleaning up the merch booth. He said "Blue Ridge Laughing, that was what you had wanted to hear, right?"
That is so cool. SO SO COOL.
I ended up being the only person working merch in NC. That show was weird because for some reason everyone thought I was actually WITH the band. Which, I guess in a sense I was, being as though I was selling merch for the band and not working for the venue, but they all thought I actually toured with the band and knew everything about their inner workings. No. I'm just a volunteer. But what this meant was that not only did people keep asking me questions that I either didn't know the answers to or bulshitted answers to, but people kept trying to impress me. They'd talk about how many concerts they'd been to, how many cds they had, conversations they'd had with band members, how long they'd been fans, etc. Which was really, really strange to me. I kept wanting to say to them "um, no, really, I swear. I'm just like you. I'm just a fan." Yeah, the guys know my name, they give me hugs when they see me, but I'm just a fan. I'm just a fan who has been seeing them in concert for 8 years and is now a familiar face. I don't have any status other than unpaid volunteer. I still got giggly and happy when I got home on Saturday and had a facebook friend request from Terry's personal facebook. I still get excited whenever I go see them on any level, whether I am going to see a show or I am working merch. They are just this amazing, energetic, uplifting live experience. That is their forte, what they excel at.
On Sunday I went to Baltimore and hung out with JekyllAndHyde. He is good times. Hopefully I did my job well and distracted him properly from his personal issues. I know I enjoyed myself. I always enjoy spending time with people capable of supplying good conversation, of which he most certainly is. I like smart people.
I'm going to massage school. I didn't just make the decision I am going to do this, I followed through. I am all signed up and everything. My orientation is June 15th and I start on the 16th. It is a seven month program. After which I'll be nationally certified as well as certified in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and PA. Any other states I'll need to figure out their specific requirements. I want to work at a resort somewhere for awhile, then maybe to the cruise circuit thing. I want to live interesting places while I am still in my twenties and don't feel forced to settle down.
On top of that opportunity I feel like massage will give me the ability to live and support myself, doing something I enjoy, while I finish up my education. Whenever I do end up doing that. Because I have figured out that I am not someone who can successfully do something, long term, that I don't enjoy. I enjoy massage, and I am good at it. With this, not only will I be able to work while finishing up my bachelors/masters (if I choose to get a masters) I'll also have work I can do while I am writing. This is all assuming that I don't absolutely fall in love with massage and decide that I want to just do that full time for the rest of my life, and just give up all together on the writing thing.
How are all of you? Tell me things.
Just so all of you know, it is never appropriate when I call you and leave a message on your voicemail to respond to me via facebook. If I call you, it is because I actually want to talk to you. I mean, come on now.
But I miss you guys, so I figured I'd stop on by, actually post something more than a sentence long, see what you guys have been up to. Maybe keep up with this some. Though, granted, my account is going to expire sometime in.. July? And unless someone buys me a gift account or I submit a new set, I won't be renewing. I just can't afford it and I don't care enough at this point to pull the money together.
This weekend was busy for me. On Thursday/Friday I worked two concerts for Carbon Leaf, selling merch for them. One in Richmond, the other in Greensboro, NC. Both were really great shows. The Richmond show was outdoors and it was hot. It was threatening to rain the entire time, which was a huge relief. Luckily the huge downpour didn't start until about an hour after we had everything packed up. It was so funny, I merched with another woman that night. We started talking about knitting and she said "wait, I remember you. You were knitting a scarf waiting in line for a show at the 9:30 club. It was cold out." I thought for a moment and went "wait, you mean the show the day after Thanksgiving 2003?!" She remembered me from a conversation we had waiting in line for a concert six and a half years ago.
Earlier that week I had posted on their facebook page that I was merching these two shows for them, and that I thought they should reward me for my loyal dedication by playing Blue Ridge Laughing (my favorite song) on one of the nights. It is a song that they play live very rarely. I've seen them more than thirty times, and have seen them play it maybe twice in the past. Well, they played it during the Richmond show. I remember while they were playing it thinking to myself "I wonder if they already planned on playing it, or if they actually added it to their set list just for me?" Because I never in a million years thought that they'd do that, I had mostly been joking. Then, after the show ended and they had signed autographs and mingled with the crowd for awhile, Terry - the guitarist, came up to me while I was cleaning up the merch booth. He said "Blue Ridge Laughing, that was what you had wanted to hear, right?"
That is so cool. SO SO COOL.
I ended up being the only person working merch in NC. That show was weird because for some reason everyone thought I was actually WITH the band. Which, I guess in a sense I was, being as though I was selling merch for the band and not working for the venue, but they all thought I actually toured with the band and knew everything about their inner workings. No. I'm just a volunteer. But what this meant was that not only did people keep asking me questions that I either didn't know the answers to or bulshitted answers to, but people kept trying to impress me. They'd talk about how many concerts they'd been to, how many cds they had, conversations they'd had with band members, how long they'd been fans, etc. Which was really, really strange to me. I kept wanting to say to them "um, no, really, I swear. I'm just like you. I'm just a fan." Yeah, the guys know my name, they give me hugs when they see me, but I'm just a fan. I'm just a fan who has been seeing them in concert for 8 years and is now a familiar face. I don't have any status other than unpaid volunteer. I still got giggly and happy when I got home on Saturday and had a facebook friend request from Terry's personal facebook. I still get excited whenever I go see them on any level, whether I am going to see a show or I am working merch. They are just this amazing, energetic, uplifting live experience. That is their forte, what they excel at.
On Sunday I went to Baltimore and hung out with JekyllAndHyde. He is good times. Hopefully I did my job well and distracted him properly from his personal issues. I know I enjoyed myself. I always enjoy spending time with people capable of supplying good conversation, of which he most certainly is. I like smart people.
I'm going to massage school. I didn't just make the decision I am going to do this, I followed through. I am all signed up and everything. My orientation is June 15th and I start on the 16th. It is a seven month program. After which I'll be nationally certified as well as certified in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and PA. Any other states I'll need to figure out their specific requirements. I want to work at a resort somewhere for awhile, then maybe to the cruise circuit thing. I want to live interesting places while I am still in my twenties and don't feel forced to settle down.
On top of that opportunity I feel like massage will give me the ability to live and support myself, doing something I enjoy, while I finish up my education. Whenever I do end up doing that. Because I have figured out that I am not someone who can successfully do something, long term, that I don't enjoy. I enjoy massage, and I am good at it. With this, not only will I be able to work while finishing up my bachelors/masters (if I choose to get a masters) I'll also have work I can do while I am writing. This is all assuming that I don't absolutely fall in love with massage and decide that I want to just do that full time for the rest of my life, and just give up all together on the writing thing.
How are all of you? Tell me things.
This month has been nutty and intense. I'm glad it is almost over.
I have things going on the next few weekends! This makes me happy. I get surprised when I try to think of some time to go camping or whatever else I want to do, only to discover that I already have plans all of the times I am thinking of.
Hopefully I will be able to get out camping sometime soon.
I really love pictures of kitties where they are sticking their tongues out. Oh so much.
flipped my car over while on vacation. No more car.
County is cutting the busses in my neighborhood in a month.. because nobody uses them. Because this is the richest county in the country and while everyone who works in the city takes the metro in to work, they all drive or take the dc metro buses (which only run at peak hours) to the fucking metro station. And a hell of a lot of people who live in Reston WORK in Reston, it being the Dulles corridor and all, so we have Symantec, Oracle, Apple, etc. etc. etc. Those people just drive their mile commute to work.
aeilfjkdvcx;hkjadv.
County is cutting the busses in my neighborhood in a month.. because nobody uses them. Because this is the richest county in the country and while everyone who works in the city takes the metro in to work, they all drive or take the dc metro buses (which only run at peak hours) to the fucking metro station. And a hell of a lot of people who live in Reston WORK in Reston, it being the Dulles corridor and all, so we have Symantec, Oracle, Apple, etc. etc. etc. Those people just drive their mile commute to work.
aeilfjkdvcx;hkjadv.
