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Monday, December 6th, 2010
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3:06 pm
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Hey, guys! I'm putting up a stickypost for those people heading over here for fic. :)
STORIES:
My webpage (sadly out of date) is McDragon's Lair. ALL Marvel comics fic is archived here. (Except for this birthday fic I wrote for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tangeriner two years ago, and just found private-locked on my lj. o.O Ric/Shatterstar, G. Surprise. And this one: Gen, Movieverse, Jamie: The Real McCoy.)
DC fic index
Naruto fic index
Fallen Leaves: A Naruto AU about ANBU, 7 years before Kyuubi. Published serial-style, lots of stories taking place in the same universe, often interconnecting. I am one of several authors.
Star Trek: Reboot fic index
ARCHIVES:
My Naruto archive, with both my own and others' fic, is Hidden Village. It has been CLOSED. You can, however, submit and read stories at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) hiddenvillage. Woo hoo!
My Jamie Maddrox archive (also closed and out of date) is Seeing Double
My personal webpage is still McDragon's Lair. ;)
Have fun!
JB
*edit: It would help if I forward-set the date. >.> *grins*
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| Thursday, November 19th, 2009
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6:16 pm
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Good dog training! Ate food! My mood has tanked anyway, though, and while I really want to work on (and finish) my Chekov fic for Switch to Decaf, I don't think it's going to happen. :( The dogs being SPAZZES is not helping. :P
J
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1:12 pm
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Having trouble focusing. >.> Partly because I've never written a lesbian story before. Possibly I should have started with fanfic. (Uhura/Gaila ftw!) Ah, well, I will muddle through, albeit very slowly. ;-D
J
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11:15 am
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Yesterday was just as busy as it looked like it was going to be, but the three dogs I trained all had major breakthroughs, the person I met with sent me more business already, and Star Trek with Kristin was awesome. I kind of love her. :D
Today I'd like to work on my butch/femme story, but... I have no plot. :( So I think I'll go shower and see if a plot, more than random scenes, comes to me. :D
J
*edit: Got a plot! It will be fabulous. :D
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| Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
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11:14 am
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Today is a good day. I'm in a good mood. I'm still a little overwhelmed. Today's schedule:
8:30: get up (got 9 hours of sleep! \o/)
8:30-9:30: gym
9:30-9:50: Shower and dress
9:50-10:30: Take dogs out, take dogs scootering
10:30-11: Feed me, Bobby, and Petey.
That's been the morning. Next:
11-12:15: Do any of the following: finish eating, call mom, email clients back, start the femme/butch novella(which is scheduled, but may get passed over), answer LJ comments, clean the bathroom, start laundry, read spiritual book, post on spiritual book
12:15-2: Get hair cut
2-3:15: Train dogs
3:30-?: Meet pet sitting woman at the coffee shop (IF I have time -- and that's a big if -- see above list. Add to it: get groceries, get dog food.)
4:30-7: train dogs
7: Come home. Neighbor is coming over at 7 to watch Star Trek, which means any cleaning had better be done first. Ha ha.
Tomorrow: Repeat.
Friday: Repeat.
Saturday: Repeat.
Sunday: Repeat.
Monday: Leave for SoCal.
Hopefully, I'll leave for SoCal Sunday afternoon, getting there late night. Hopefully, because then I can get my car into the shop while I'm there, and don't have to do it before I leave. I have no idea HOW I would do it before I leave.
I know I'll make it all work, I always do, but right now I don't even see a time to pack, much less write. Actually, that's not fair. Tomorrow should be a good writing day, and I can fit in laundry and maybe even getting some groceries. But, man, I didn't even get to do all my morning stuff today, and I'm not going to in the hour I have left: I'm going to clean the bathroom, so I'm not embarrassed when Kristin gets here tonight. (There is mildew in the toilet, because my life has been like the above so much I haven't had a chance to clean in THAT LONG. It is DISGUSTING.) I was up until 11 last night, so waking up earlier this morning wasn't really an option unless I wanted to be a wreck and get nothing done. AGH. I need to figure out better scheduling. Starting with when I get back from T'giving. Wish me luck.
J
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| Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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3:49 pm
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So there's Lily, laying on the floor looking like, "What?" Both front paws and chest on the ground, seemingly laying comfortable. While her spine is twisted so she's got one back leg hiked up into the air. o.O
Obviously, she was stunned to hear that I have already achieved Star Trek. :DD
Tonight is a short dog training night, and then there will be STAR TREK!
J
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7:27 am
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IT IS SEVEN TWENTY FIVE AND I AM AWAKE, DRESSED, PUPPY FED, DOGS LET OUT, SO I CAN TAKE BOBBY TO THE VET. Oh, Bobby. I hope you know how much I love you.
I had something productive to say, but I don't recall what it is. Possibly because it is SEVEN TWENTY FIVE and I got 6 hours of highly broken sleep last night. Yes. We'll blame that.
J
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| Monday, November 16th, 2009
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9:27 pm
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People keep asking me why I won't read/watch Twilight. This article pretty much sums it up, with links to the emotional-abuse arguments I've heard. (Thanks, dawnkiller!) I also find myself comparing it to Tanya Huff's vampire series, and while she, too, fails in the racism bit, and though it makes me disappointed that her heroine doesn't seem to grow, overall I think she does a better job at the sexism problems. Her heroine saves the vampire several times over, and the fact that he's helpless during the day is played up a lot, making them more balanced. Yay!
Also, my Mom/sister's cooking blog is active again! To Meat or Not To Meat.
...Okay, I'm really getting offline now.
J
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9:10 pm
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I am training a Great Dane. He weighs 30 pounds more than I do, if I assume my weight has remained high. Heh.
Walked all three dogs, the aggressive dog did SO MUCH BETTER, especially since she's had four days off in a kennel (her parents were at a conference) and I wasn't sure she'd remember her manners. >.< But she did! We worked on getting her to relax, now that she's no longer trying to rip other dogs to pieces, and there is improvement. Woo hoo!
Then I went to get Petey, the feral rescue puppy from NARF, and he's backslid. >.< I expected that, though. What I didn't expect was that it would take me TWO HOURS to drive there, get him, and drive home. Goodlord I need to figure out a way to get out of that house in less time...
Anyway, he's remembering his manners rapidly, so that's good. Now it's 9pm, I've eaten dinner (my awesome client Glenna made beans and gave me some and they're SO GOOD), and I just need to find a way to shut off my brain to go to bed. Bobby has a vet app't tomorrow at 8:30am. Cross your fingers that they can do something for his warts! (Which are now internal, and dangerous.)
I have femme thoughts I need to write down. At some point. Some things on Femmes of Power, where it took me, what happened in my head then, and where I'm at now. In my blog post earlier, I said, and I might not be like other femmes, but I like them for who they are and we all bring our own unique perspective to it. and in writing that, I had this sudden realization that me making sure I fit as a femme had come from all sorts of weirdness in my head. The excuse I was telling myself was that I didn't want to step on toes: I didn't want to say, "I'm femme," and then later find out I'm not. It feels like claiming a minority -- like dressing up as a Native American for Halloween. Seems harmless enough, but it hurts Native Americans.
Anyway, I didn't want to do that. That was my excuse, and I truly believed it, but when I wrote the above I realized that me being unsure about femme, me needing definitions and a label so badly, didn't have to do with trying not to step on toes. It had to do with being afraid that I would be wrong. That I would do it wrong. As long as I was unsure, if anyone disagreed with me I could say, "Oh, well, I'm not positive..." And that's not cool.
So! Here's to growing up, taking responsibility, and knowing myself. I'm femme. Some day, hopefully some day soon, I'm going to write what that means to me. I'd like to write about the femmes I've seen, and how I don't feel that way. I have a veritable essay on the difference between overt femmes and femmes like me -- not overtly femme, but with so many of the habits/reactions to butch women/tendencies I see described when I read about femmes with butches, as opposed to femmes on their own. I'm not explaining it well, but that's okay. There's an essay coming. And hopefully a blog on which to put all this on, split with DK. :D
...As soon as I find the time. Ye, gods. *headdesk*
J
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1:03 pm - Something in the air...
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There must be something in the air, because all the bad stuff I've been reading on my f'list (friends struggling, having a hard time, crap politics, etc) has today been replaced by people talking about good things (a 5-year job anniversary -- go, indiana_j! -- awesome family dinners, BIRTHDAYS, both gone by yesterday and coming up tomorrow, and general good days. (Granted, there's still the usual not-good-days, but overall... YAY!)
And I'm happier, today. That's what really matters, right? ;-D
In order of what changed...
I talked to DK last night for a long while. She had an awesome birthday yesterday (and if you want to wish her a happy unbirthday today, I highly recommend it! darksideofstorm will never see it coming... mwahahahaha), and was full to bursting with awesome friend and family stuff. :D We are both very lucky to have such awesome family.
Anyway, while talking to her last night, we started talking about our ongoing search for awesome femme and butch blogs (my two favorites are currently Sugarbutch and Can I Help You, Sir?, a blog that I haven't mentioned much about a butch (edit: grew up in LDS, is no longer) Mormon woman in Utah. Her blog is generally more everyday life and less official blog, but I like it.), and how we both adore Ivan E. Coyote (There is apparently a facebook comm for people who have a crush on Ivan. *dies*). How, in fact, she's pretty much our favorite, mostly because of the way he writes. And then we talked a little bit about how Ivan doesn't really talk about being butch -- it appears in his stories, but not as the main point. We both really like the way Ivan doesn't make a big deal about whether you're trans or butch or what -- everyone is awesome, and it gets mentioned but often as, "My transguy brother..." and that's something, since there's a strange sort of tension about different identities in these communities. It occurred to me while we were talking that basically what Ivan does is live her life and respect and love people and just assume we're all living our lives, no big deal. And I thought, "...huh. That's what I say I'm trying to do, but in the meantime I'm getting all caught up in this labeling thing (and whether or not I'm doing it 'right' or it really fits). And yet what I find so attractive about Ivan is that he isn't getting caught up in it..." So it gave me a mental shift. I'm going to keep looking into femme, but I think I'm more comfortable now saying, "Yes, I'm femme. I enjoy it and I can look around and I might not be like other femmes, but I like them for who they are and we all bring our own unique perspective to it. It's all cool, whatever identity you are, because first and foremost we're all still human."
Then this morning I woke up snarly and grumpy again, and dragged myself to the gym (it was dragging, seriously), and decided I needed to run. Just run and run and run and see if I couldn't burn off all this anxious energy. I put on my headphones and listened to music and pretended like I was a fancy shmancy musician playing for Tony and Henry from Tanya Huff's (andpuff) Shadows and... series, and there were demons and gymnastics and it was all very Mary Sue. But most importantly, it allowed me to burn off that anxiety that's been following me around. It let my brain work and chew through things and process while giving it some limited focus so I didn't devolve into angst. I ran (and walked) for 3.3 miles, for just over 40 minutes. Compared to my usual 1.5 miles in fifteen minutes, this is... uh, impressive. By the time I got home, I felt SO MUCH BETTER.
Then, while I was in the shower, it occurred to me that part of my stress from yesterday has to do with PMS. Not all of it; I've read (and believe) that PMS doesn't create stress, it just makes whatever problems you've been ignoring impossible to ignore. But it does strengthen those emotions, so now I can remind myself of that and take some extra-extra TLC, and it'll be fine. (I think taking the day off yesterday did help.)I read my mental health book (which will be a whole different post, if I get around to it. >.>) and then took the dogs scootering. We went to the bank (I have a new account! Chase SUCKS. Bank of the West gave me FREE EVERYTHING.) and then to get coffee. Which is where I am now. :D I wrote my freebie for Samhain: I'll edit it and send it off this afternoon.
And this afternoon I have three dogs to walk. This is that temporary stress I was talking about in my last post, and part of my problem: I don't feel like today is more relaxed/a writing day because I have so many dogs to walk. But one job will be done by the end of this week, another goes to 2-3 days a week in December, and the third is long-term-temporary (we do this until the dog stops attacking, basically). I can handle this for now.
In short, things are better. Oh, yeah, and did I mention it was darksideofstorm's 22nd birthday yesterday? Go wish her a happy unbirthday. :DDD
And now, to pack up, head home, and polish up the free read to send. And then off to walk dogs. *amused* I'm glad I finished my novel...
J
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| Sunday, November 15th, 2009
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3:00 pm
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I got through the end of last week by the skin of my teeth, so I'm taking a sick day. Not a day off, a sick day. Whenever I take a day off I end up doing things like cleaning or going through and getting rid of clothes, or realizing the eighty gazillion things I need to get done before DK gets here. So, I'm taking a SICK DAY. I didn't go to church or the gym, I didn't take the dogs scootering. I did take them to the dog-park-area in the apartment complex, and let them play while I read a book in the sun. Now I'm on the couch under a blanket, watching TV. I started with 21 Jump Street and now I'm watching Knight Rider. I was looking for the 80's version, but did you know they made a new one? o.O (It's terrible, even by my standards. Cardboard cut-outs could have done a better acting job overall, and since when is Kit a Transformer? Did I forget that part, or did they think it'd be a cool addition? If the latter, it's not a cool addition.)
I woke up angry this morning. Not rageful, but definitely grumpy and quick to anger. I did read my spiritual book, and I'm not sure skipping church was the right thing, but I have to try something. I went to church last week and was stressed out again by Wednesday, in spite of doing everything that normally keeps me calm. I have to figure out a better way to balance my life: I'm getting overwhelmed. I have all the usual things to get done, plus dog training three days a week (and for the upcoming week, I'm walking dogs 5x/week for three clients) and writing three days a week. I just finished my book, so that's a little easier, but there's still editing, writing query letters, and picking up more stories soon. I'm regularly pulling 9-10 hour days (if I'm dog training) and 12 hour days (if I'm writing), and that's before I run errands or eat dinner or spend my three hours in the morning setting my brain to rights. (Which, I admit, I skipped two days last week because I just didn't HAVE an extra three hours.)
And now I'm making money. I'm disinclined to take fewer dog training jobs, as OHGODIFINALLYHAVEMONEY, so I'm catching up on the things I couldn't afford before: vet care for Bobby, jeans (since I have three pairs: one doesn't fit and the other has holes), sweaters (I own two), and pay up my various accounts (which I depleted in moving) so that I can afford emergencies and car care and all those other things that are regular life things, but aren't monthly bills. Specifically, I think if I cut down on my 5x/week walking, that might help my stress levels while not hitting my wallet all that much. Glenna is cutting down for Dec and possibly January; I'm sort of hoping I can convince her to keep it down. We'll see. (It depends on how comfortable she feels taking her dogs to the dog park alone.) The other two are temporary anyway. Cross your fingers.
I'm also struggling because now that I'm making more money, I'm buying and replacing things. Which is great, except I've had to be so careful with money for so long, that every time I buy things I have this moment of panic, and then I do this mental check and it's getting stressful. :P Or I buy things I don't really need (I totally bought Cash and Lily Christmas stockings yesterday. I couldn't help it. THEY WERE SHAPED LIKE PAWS.) and then sit around bashing myself and telling myself that OMG I'm never going to be able to put $200/month toward my debt and also start filling in my savings if I'm not VERY VERY CAREFUL which might actually be right, but it's not the end of the world. I could do something zany, like put $100/month toward my debt and put the other $100 toward various accounts. It's like this inner drive: I have to get it all done RIGHT NOW or I'm failing and also gonna die of going broke. And yet, if I stop and take a look at how much I've made/will make this month, even though I'm taking a week off for T'giving... I'm fine. Really. I may not be building up accounts as fast as I like, but maybe I should do something really crazy and against Dave Ramsey (the financial guru) and put money into one account at a time. At least then I'll feel like I'm making progress.
*sighs* I'm just tired, stressed, and feeling overwhelmed. :(
Also, I have a vertible ranty essay to write on femme stuff, and I've been wanting to write it for more than a week now, but I haven't found the time or energy. :( Eventually...
J
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| Friday, November 13th, 2009
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11:49 am
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I've done my morning stuff: gym (which, lemme tell you, I really didn't want to run, BUT I DID. You know what one of the things I love about DK is? When I tell her stuff like that, she acts like it's a big deal. A personal accomplishment, like I've done something grand, which is awesome because it IS a big personal accomplishment for me, it IS something grand, but I tell myself, "Pshaw, you shouldn't feel good about that. You SHOULD be doing it anyway, so why celebrate when you do?" But now I have this alternate little DK voice in the back of my head going, "That's so GREAT, love! Good for you! I'm so proud of you!" and I feel proud of myself. *laughs*) (ha, that was an impressive tangent), breakfast, scootering-with-dogs, read my happyhealthyhead book, and all that's left before I start my day is writing about my happyhealthyhead book.
Which I've been stalling.
The truth is, the section today didn't really speak to me. It was like, "Oh, yeah, that's good stuff to keep in mind," but I pretty much already do it -- or think I do. But you know what? Maybe I can pull some stuff out anyway, and talk about how I do it. It'll be a nice change of telling myself what I do good instead of trying to remember to be better, right? Right!
( One Day My Soul Just Opened Up -- Feeling Unappreciated )
In other news, I'm going to finish my next m/m romance (it has DOG SLEDDING) today! I might have finished it yesterday, but I would have had to really rush and I'm still not sure I'd have managed it, and then DK called so I decided to stop rushing and talk to her. It's got another 5-10 pages, and I only had half an hour to write. >.< So better to wait. :) But 5-10 pages is nothing for today! YAY! I'm going to set it aside next week, work on my femme/butch romance, and then take T'giving week off to go home. When I come back I'll pick up the dogsledding one, edit it, write the query letter, and send it off to Torquere. If I haven't finished the femme/butch story (it's a short) I'll maybe pick it back up... if I have time before DK gets here. If I don't, I'm not going to worry about it! Though I do need to write the short (VERY short -- a page) freebie for Samhain next week. Need to remember to do that. >.<
I also picked up another dog training client, and I'm meeting a woman next week who runs a pet sitting business and is looking for a dog trainer to recommend. I am amused. :D
I ALSO put the $200 I could have spent toward rent, toward my credit card debt instead. THIS IS AWESOME. By next month, I'll be below the $3000 mark! How cool is that? :D Other things to spend money on that I kinda really need:
Clothes. Specifically, jeans, sweaters, bras, running shoes, and dress shoes.
Taking Bobby da Bird to the vet. (This gets priority.)
Putting money in various savings accounts, as much as possible. Especially accounts like, "For vet bills" and "car stuff." Oh, and "taxes," "England funds," my 401J, and my emergency account. Yeesh.
What's wild is the thought that I can start doing this again -- at a greater rate than I ever have before. THAT IS JUST CRAZY TALK. :D
Right! I need to go work on my novel, now.
J
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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11:29 am
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The problem with training dogs late into the evening is that I sleep in the next day. This doesn't sound too bad, except it takes me three hours to go to the gym, run the dogs, shower, read my spirituality book, and hopefully meditate. On days when I don't have the time, some of those get cut, but if that happens for more than a few days in a row BOY DO I NOTICE.
I posted what my day was like yesterday, and it's been that way pretty much since Sunday. I managed the gym Monday, I think, and I scootered the dogs Monday and Tuesday, but everything else got cut. I just didn't have the time. :( And today, I woke up feeling anxious, worried, and well on my way to overwhelmed. So I did everything, and now i feel much better... but I also slept late to try and make up for being out late last night, working, so it's now 11:30, I still have 4000 words to write that I haven't even start, and I have dog training at 2:30 and 5. I try not to worry about it, because I know I can write 4000 words in 2-3 hours if I focus, but... I still fret. It's things like this that trigger my frustration from the other week, because I'm pretty sure that other peoples' morning routines don't take them THREE HOURS just to make sure their mind stays balanced.
I was talking to DK on the phone the other day, and ran through a general schedule. It went something like:
"If I get up at 7:30, I do yoga, gym, run dogs, spiritual readings, stuff to keep my head together until 10:30. Then I write until 1:30, head off for dog training, and do dog training from 1:30-4. At that point, I'm exhausted!"
DK pointed out that that's an eight hour work day, roughly. The difference is I don't count all that morning stuff, because if I were working a normal 9-5 job, I'd have to do my morning stuff outside work hours.
So, then I think to myself, "Well, you're not normal people. Be glad you don't have to work a 9-5 job." (I did, once. Ask dextelfer. It lasted 4 months, and I was having panic attacks thinking about going to work. :P) But THAT doesn't help, because the first part is good but the last part -- be glad -- makes me feel guilty for being frustrated. And that's when I start wishing I were normal, that like the rest of the world I didn't need 3 hours in the morning just to calm my head.
And so the wheels keep spinning, and I suppose the next step is to allow myself to be frustrated that I need this, if that's what I'm feeling, and stop acting like being glad I have the ability to take the time and being frustrated that I need the time are exclusionary.
My mom once told me, "You'll be so much happier when you realize you don't have to be like everyone else." I took it at a surface level -- I'll be happier when I realize I don't have to look or act like other people, that it's okay that I'm different, etc. But now I'm re-thinking about it at a deeper level. I'll be much happier when I realize that I don't have to hold myself to work standards that are culturally normal, or berate myself because I can't meet them, or be frustrated because I need 3 hours in the morning to stabilize while other people don't. Hmmm.
On another note, I felt yucky and grumpy this morning, so I pulled on my awesome pair of bluejeans that are SO COMFY (and also look good! Better and better!) and a blue sweater that's not-quite-baggy, and then I was digging through jewelery for a necklace that would make it all go from okay to overall cute, and I found MARDI GRAS BEADS. They're... well, slightly too green to be sky blue. Sea foam, maybe? And shaped like tiny disco balls, and metallic, so they catch the light like crazy. I put them on and knotted them at my throat, and they are so cheesy but so sparkly. I love them. :D
J
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| Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
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9:17 pm - Day in the life...
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Today looked like this (yesterday and Sunday were quite similar):
8:30 Slept in! Yay! Wake up! read for a bit.
9:45-10:30: get up, do sit-ups, take dogs scootering, shower, get dressed, feed Bobby, snarf food on the way out the door to:
10:30-12: Dog training!
12-1: Casual dog training over lunch.
1-2:30: run home, get dogs, have 15 minutes to check email. Take dogs back out to...
2:30-3:15: dog training!
3:15-4:30: More dog training!
4:30-5:30: Drive home, drop dogs off, snarf some food, get directions, and head back out for...
5:30-9: More dog training! First session, so extra long.
9: Get home! Greet dogs, contemplate dinner and bed. >.<
It's 9:20, soup is warming, dogs have settled down from being LEFT FOR HOURS OMG, and I have a glass of wine. Tomorrow is a writing day, so calmer thankgod. I love my job, I really do, though the last two clients were difficult for different reasons. Dog Aggressive Dog had a bad day at the dog park, with a lot of strange dogs who were REALLY rambunctious and in her face. Had three snarling-lunges, several wrinkle-face-want-to-lunges, and she finally remembered her manners and walked quietly while they raced by her and/or sniffed her. YEESH. The owner was awesome and happy that her dog was even that good while there were so many new dogs. >.<
The other case is a separation anxiety case, and those are rough. With sep-anx, there isn't an easy or even obvious fix. You start with all the little dominant dogs things that seemingly have nothing to do with sep-anx, and wait for the dog to catch on and realize that since you're in charge, you can leave. It takes MONTHS. So I went in today and we started on the basics. The owners are really nice, and they saw improvement and we have a plan of rehabilitation, but it's still hard: it's easier when there's instant improvement, so the owners know that change is coming.
The good news is that these people got my number from two different places. They met two of my clients -- the ones I had lunch with today -- on the street. That's K and S. They have a dog-aggressive dog, and while my new client's dogs were going bonkers, the former-dog-aggressors sat calmly. I WAS SO PROUD TO HEAR THAT. :D Then they were at a dog shop on the other side of the city, and were talking about problems they've had with their dogs. Someone there gave them my number, and said that several of their customers had used me with great success. \o/ I am like a disease: SPREADING. :D
I've also been considering the one bedroom apartment opening up beside me, and have come to the following conclusion: if I take a page from Dave Ramsey's book, and stay here, I can pay off my debt in a year if I put the money I would have spent toward a new apartment on my credit cards, instead. My little apartment isn't driving me insane. There are days I would really like the extra space, and having a bigger apartment appeals to me for the dogs, for when people visit, and because society tells us MORE SPACE = BETTER. But the dogs are perfectly fine here, I don't need more stuff to fill an apartment up, I'm doing okay, people don't visit that often, and I'm doing okay. Sometimes it would be nice to have more space, but overall I'm good. I'd like to get some shelves and re-arrange things slightly, but y'know? I'm fine here. So I think I'll stay and put that money to better use. Dark and I will just have to figure out how not to trip over each other (or the dogs) while she's here. ;-D
J
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1:48 pm - Reason #43578943 on why I love my clients
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Today I had the easiest job ever, getting two dogs to play (instead of fight). Everyone called me a miracle worker. \o/ And then they paid me and gave me lunch! \o/ And then sent me home with the leftovers! \o/ And THEN Kay said she wished she'd paid me more, because they'd pestered me with questions. *dies*
Next: getting paid to go to two dog parks! \o/ (Though, actually, the next two dogs ARE aggressive so it'll be less playing more working. Still! :D)
J
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| Monday, November 9th, 2009
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10:09 am
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So, DK and I are doing "Christmas for $10!" this year. :D I might have one over on her, since I've had a lot of Christmases were I was BROKE and got creative to avoid spending money. >.>
But it has made me think about all the creative gifts I've given and gotten over the years. Here are some. *grins*
Bryant made music CDs one year, of Canadian music. Those were fun. I still listen to mine... :D
Marste knitted me an awesome scarf, with a fun shawl, too. :D
We've made pajamas and T-shirts for each other (we all did PJs, Marste did T-shirts). There were bead-bracelets another year. :D
I made a book of coupons for my parents, with stuff like 'do the dishes' and 'make dinner' for my mom, and 'go get coffee' and 'have a head rub' for my dad. Which sounds weirdly unbalanced, but those are the things they'd appreciate. *laughs*
My mom used to sew shirts for my Grandpa and Uncle Mark, and occasionally things for us, too.
Last year, Chelsea got a friend of hers who's really good at photography to take pictures of my dogs, and she framed them and it's awesome. :D
Marste used to copy movies for me, back when we could copy them off VCRs. *laughs* I have so many happily copied movies. :D
I made Superhero CDs one year, with all the superhero songs I could find. *grins*
Marste got her artist friend to give me art lessons one Christmas, which was awesome.
Hmmm... nothing else comes to mind off the top. This year, I have presents for DK. Several, actually. >.> Two of them are just kinda fun, and I'm not even sure if she'll like one of them, but the other one has become A Project, and it's AWESOME. I'll tell you all about it after Christmas. ;-D
Now I just have to think of presents for the rest of my family. >.>
What about you guys? Any creative presents over the years? ;-D
J
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| Saturday, November 7th, 2009
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4:03 pm
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My next door neighbors are moving out of their one-bedroom apartment. It's $200/month more than what I pay now. I live in a closet right now, and a one bedroom (with an extra two hundred square feet) would be REALLY NICE. OTOH, do I want to worry about the stress of making sure I make that extra $200 more? If I do make that much more, I could put it toward paying off my debt or putting aside for tickets.
I'm going to give it more thought. Take a look at my finances again, thinkthinkthink. My neighbors aren't moving SOON, so I have time to debate with myself. Hmmm.
In other news, I re-read Sum today, and started re-reading Parts. Parts needs some work. >.< I jimmied some scenes in and, well, it's obvious I jimmied them in. The only problem with writing 4000 words a day, three days a week, is that by the time I'm done I don't really want to write more fic... So it's going slowly. And reading most of Sum wore me out; I'm seeing cross-eyed, and it's only 4pm!
I think I'll go watch a movie and work on DK's christmas present, and hopefully perk up a little for writing, later. :)
J
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| Friday, November 6th, 2009
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6:13 pm
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The only problem with lots of dog training is that, because many of my clients work, a lot of it's in the evening.
I tend to start crashing about 5pm.
5:30 hits and I hate my job. One more client to go, tonight...
J
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| Thursday, November 5th, 2009
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8:54 pm
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My crazy dog stuff:
If I have 3 appointments in one week, I'm booked. I can pay my bills with that.
If I have 5 appointments in one week, I'm overbooked. I can pay my bills and set aside a fair amount of cash.
If I have more than that... uh, I don't have a word for it.
I only have nine slots per week without going crazy. (On top of daily dog-walking.)
6 of them are filled for next week, and I have daily dogwalking for two people, now, which is all I take at a time. o.O I am... uh, over-over booked? I am IN DEMAND, yessir. It's pretty cool. :D And someone called me to ask about working around T'giving... wow. This is crazy.
J
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9:53 am
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