Okay, I did have a massaive "State Of Torra" post I was gunna do, but too tired, so it's been postponed for a bit. But I did wanna ask: Anyone looking for bitchinparty roomates?

Since I live in state (a little over an hour's drive away), I was planning to do three nights (the two nights of, and the night before ETA: Misstyped: ment to say, two or three nights: the night of the con and the night before, and possibly the night after) in the hotel so I don't miss any of the fun Bitchin' Party Action^TM, but plans are totaly maluable to work with roomates and their plans.

I promace to shower daily, not snore (to the best of my knoweldge), and any and all roomates will have first dibs on car rides if they want to go anywhere outside of the hotel. Also, I'm small and don't take up much space?

Mom is out of surgry and doing fine. She had gastric bipass this morning, and the surgry only lasted about four hours, right as they predicted. There was some worry that once they got her open, they wouldn't be able to do the bipass, intead doing a lapband, or nothing at all. But that didn't happen, they cut her, the cut again, they sewed it shut, and then sewed her shut. Done and done.

She should be home on Thursday, if there are no complacations.

So Mickey took the deal offered and avoided the death penality. Though he sure left it to the 11th hour.

So when I first saw the mouse three days ago (as in, saw it, not just knew it was in the appartment), I looked right at it and told it, "If you just leave, just get out of my appartment, I'll let you live. That's the deal. You stay, you die, you leave, you live."

So when I didn't see or hear from it at all yesterday, I thought it took the deal, and ran. So I was doubbly pissed when he was back again today. Little fucker ran right across my clean laundry (which, of course, I now have to re-wash). Definatly the same mouse.

So that's it. No waiting for the family to finaly get off their lazy asses and pay for an exterimator. I put my shoes on, I got my purse, and I imideatly went to the store and bought a pack of old fashioned snap traps.

I get home, I put away the other grocheries I bought and dropped my reusable bag onto the floor while I opened up the traps. So I'm standing in the kitchen, putting peanut butter onto the snap traps and I see movement outta the corner of my eye and turn my head to look.

The mouse cralled into my reusable bag. Right in front of me. And just sat there. Waiting.

I laughed, set the traps down on the counter, and scopped the bag up.

I let him go up the block into one of the bramble fields by the creek.

The little shit clearly didn't believe I was serious until he actualy saw the traps in my hand. ::laughs::

....and yes, as soon as I let him go, I did imideatly have to say:

"And once again, the ballance of nature has been restored."
::snort:: ::laugh:: "What does that even mean?"
::laugh:: "I don't know!"

'coz, yeah, I'm totaly a geek. ::G::

THERE IS A MOUSE IN MY FUCKING APPARTMENT!!!

It's not just in my head, I confronted the little fucker just a few minutes ago. Next to my night stand!

We've had mice before, Mom and Joe are natoriously lax about them, but I AM NOT! Bad enough I have to listen to them in the walls constatly. We live in western Washington, near woods and a stream, and I have my bed in the corner where the two walls are to the outside at ground and sub-ground level, and the under the hosue crawl space. Hearing things in the walls is just part of the territory I got used to many years ago.

BUT NOT IN MY APPARTMENT!!! I keep food in here! I cook in here! I fucking SLEEP RIGHT FUCKING HERE!!!

This fucker must die now.

No second chances.

I've seen it's cold, beadey, little, pleague infested eyes now.

I'm yelling at Dad in the morning until he calls the fucking exterminator. No more "I'll lay down a few traps", no more "I'll try a difrent poisen this time." Now it's in my appartment, and It. Must. Die.

Yes, I am still alive. No, no big news. Yes, the American medical system is fucked up. No, this is news to no one.

Basicly, I have missed everybody's birthdays for the last two months.

SORRY!

I love you all, I hope they were all wonderful, and in my heart, I was thinking your names in sparkly text and +3 font size. {{{HUGS}}}

Today, however, is also the 30th Anniversery of my dad's sobriaty. Which...wow, yeah? That's just fucking incredible. Expecialy considering the family he then married into! I mean, fuck, I'm driven to drink at every family event! Hell, I need a drink just thinking about events with certen family memebers. And he does them all sober??

The man is stronger then I, by far!

Dad and I wanted to celibrate at the bar up the street. Mom vetoed the idea and instead planned a family dinner. ...Personaly, I think we'd have less cause to drink at the bar, but meh.

In other good news, Geoff and Sarah bought their first house! They'll be moving back to Tumwater, which is is a city connected to Oly (Lacey being the city connected on Oly's other side, the three, saddest conjoined sister cities ever). So yay, there. It'll be nice to have him around more, as he and I alawys get along (mostly because we can both drink, talk about guns, girls, and how fucked up our family is and not take offence to anything we say to eachother). There is little to no drama between Geoff and I...though somehow, we almost always end up bitching about how much drama we have with the rest of the familly, or the rest of the family has with eachother. The only family drama we dissagree on is Mom's Family (he likes them, I claim I was adopted because clearly I do not share any genetic traits with those people) and Sean (whom don't get me wrong, I love, he's family, but...yeah, kinda a bum, but Geoff only sees him twice a year, so he has to defend the other guy in the family).

What else. Oh, apprently Mom's getting gastric bipass surgry. Which, yay, good for her, considering her multipul-decades long issues with morbid obesity I think is a fine idea, but also WTF, wish someone had told me (apprently she's been planning for awhile and forgot to mention) and also WTF, she told Danika (who had it done last year, quite sucessfully) that she'd never do it. ::eyeroll::

I'm still the only person in the family speeking to Danika (Seriously, WTF, how the FUCK did that happen!?! I wanna re-count!!), who is cought in this web of "I'm so happy without the family, life is wonderful, this is great!!" and "I want to know everything the family is doing, and tell me all about Susan and Clay and Brian and I wish they'd just appologise so I can come back." ::shakes head:: My family? Seriously needs to look into bulk rate theripy sessions, 'coz clearly we're still too fucked up for his "one-on-one" basis that's doing shit all for us now. ::sighs::

So....yeah. That's the state of Torra today.

Thirty years sober. WOW. I'll drink to that!

ETA: I totaly get to use my Adam Savage quote Mythbusters icon on LJ for this post! Woot! (Yes, I take my happy moments where I can.)

So that's the kind of fun sound no one likes to hear when they're trying to fall asleep.

We just had an explosion. Right out side the house. At 3am.

I ran out to make sure no one was hurt, got halfway out the door, then ran back in to put on pants, then back out to make sure no one was hurt. Dad called 911.

There was a car parked on the street, but drove off before I could get there. There were six wet spots on the ground, three to a side, pairs one to a side. Not blood or urine.

No smoke, no burnmarks, no tire marks, no cries or shouts.

Came back in, and Loki waited 'til I was in the door, then started freaking out in her cage and thrashing around wildly. Got her out, and she managed to poop up the arm of my shirt, she was flayling around so badly. (Birds crap before flight, instictive responce, their wings start flapping, poop comes out one end.)

Got Loki calmed down eventuly, back in her cage and covered up for the night again.

Yeah, I'm not gunna be getting much sleep tonight, am I? ::sigh::

At least no one was hurt...at least, no one I could find...hope no one is curently bleading out in the back seat of a red mustang with a tan ragtop. ::headesk::

   Happy Birthday, oddmonster   

   Happy Birthday, sansets/sansets   

   Happy Birthday, gdelilah   


You are three hip and happening ladies, and I am damn proud to know you all! ::sends love and huggles and pretty wishes to all three::

I have an iPod! I am filled with glee at this. Geoff gave me his (almost totaly unused and brand new) .mp3 player back in August of '07, which totaly rocked and was great, and I got OMG a ton of use out of, but it just isn't the best one ever made. It goes through batteries very quickly (I use rechargeables for it because of this), and is prone to "forget" where it was on a track, and no Fast Foword/Rewind options to mention, and, well, I could go on, but it's not nessicary. For what it was, it was great, and I'll love it (and Geoff) forever...but...I really did need something a little better for the long term.

So...iPod! It's little, and thin, and green! I got a 4GB 2ndGen iPod nano, bright sour apple green, off Ebay (long involved story here about an idiot seller, a birthday gift card, and screams of ARGH being heard through IMs at 3am, but never mind that) and I got it for $75 all told. More then I wanted to (or thought I'd be ::growls at above story not told::) paying, but if I get as much use out of it as I did my .mp3 player, it'll be great.

I gotta say, I love it so far. Still playing around with it (sometimes litterly, it comes with solitare and a few other games which ::snort:: and ::happy::) and I've only loaded up like 1/8th with music, and 1/20th with pics, mostly just to test it out. I already love, though, that I can listen to audiobooks and not lose my place! That, right there, is 95% of why I wanted an iPod, and not just another random brand .mp3 player. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and books on tape. Also? The volume on this thing rocks. My .mp3 player didn't have great volume options, so about one out of every eight or ten podfics I DLed, I couldn't listen to while driving, because they were too quiet. So far, that no longer seems like it's gunna be a problem for me.

So, since probably 99% of everyone reading this already has an iPod or two, I don't really need to go on about what it does, or how nifty it is. But it's my first, so just let me finish one more happy noise...

SQUEEE

Okay, thank you. I'm done now. (And yes, I'm totaly listening to music on it now with earbuds, despite the fact that I am typing on my laptop, with iTunes open right in front of me...shut up...)

ETA On LJ: And I totaly get to use my Aliens iPod icon now for more then just when I post about PodFics! ::LOL:: Bonus win!

I am officaly home in my "finished" appartment!

"How is this?" You might ask, "Torra, haven't you been living there since November?"

Yes, I'd respond, I officaly moved back in on November 16th. But until today, stuff had not been finished. It took six months to get a working kitchen sink, for instance, and it leaked, the hoses were reversed, and so on.

Today, the last of the big unfinished items got finished! That's right, people, as of 7:30pm tonight, after eight hours of work, I have a working kitchen sink and dishwasher!! No leaks, no mixed up hoses, no more pans underneith stuff to catch drips, no more accidental scaldings when I turned the tap the wrong way.

Dad re-did all of the sink's plumbing. New pipes, new hoses, the works. And he actualy went to Home Depot several times to talk to the pros and make sure he was doing it right. Now when I turn on the tap, there are no drips, no leaks, and (Glory Of Glories!) when I turn the tap to hot? I actualy get hot water! And when I turn it to cold? ::gasps:: I get cold water!!

I know, mindblowing, right?

But wait, there's more!

I HAVE A DISHWASHER!!

No more washing a month's worth of dishes by hand. No more pots and pans left sitting in the sink. No more putting off doing the dishes because I'm ticcing or shakeing too hard, an I'd be too much at risk of breaking shit. No more putting off cleanup until I'm "feeling better, maybe sometime next week".

I have the first load in now. It's glorious. It's a little loud, because it's not insulated or anything, but IT WORKS, so fuck the noise, I live alone, so if I don't give a shit, neither will anyone else.

This, guys, marks the last of the big stuff left unfinished down here. There are still little things, like I need a strip under the door to keep out drafts (and bugs), and a few small holes in the wall leading out into the garage to make room for pipes. Hole in the wall where the Comcast Idiot Tech Boy drilled. My cabnets don't have doors on them coz I never finished paitning and some of the hindges were stripped and I couldn't fix them. Handles on my drawrs, too, for the same reason. And so on. Small things, really. (also, I still haven't unpacked most of my shit...)

But this was the last of the big ones.

After eight months almost to the day, I am now truly, officaly home in my own appartment.

Someday I'll get my own washer 'n dryer, but ya know what? I can wash a month's worth of clothes in two, three loads, top. Towles 'n sheets more offten, but eh. Washer 'n Dryer are so far down on my list of "things to get for the place", they're hardely worth mentioning and in no way impact my curent squee.

And so Rejoice, my friends! Rejoice and be merry, for in an hour, we put the clean dishes away. ::tosses confetti::

ETA: Also? I totaly fail at Birthdays this month too, already.

   Happy Birthday, spn_girl / spn_girl   

Two days late, sorry. ::tosses more confetti:: I hope it was good!

The Correction: It was my grandparent's 60^th anniversary, not their 50th.

Can I just say again WOW. That just...blows my mind. I can't imagine living with the same person everyday for sixty years and not wanna bash one of our head's in at some point. Compare that to my Mom's parents, who were never married to anyone for more then a few years, and they married eachother at least twice. We're honestly not sure how many times Grandma Mary was actualy married, turns out some of the guys, they were just shacking up and calling it a marrage.

After growing up with every disfuntion possible in a family, being around Joe's family is its own little headtrip. I never believed in the idea of the nuclear family 'til we married into his. In fact, Joe's the only member of his family I can think of who's had more then one marriage. So, yeah, wow. Props to them! Wish we were all so luckey.


The Observation: Geoff has now developed a chlorine alorgy, too. I was the only one with it for the last decade and a half or so, and now Geoff has developed one too, and it came on fast and hard. He reconised it for what it was quickly (benifit of having asthma, I supose, you learn to figure out fast what it is makeing you sick), so his hasn't yet developed into the breathing issues mine has, thank god. And his isn't as sever as mine...yet. He'll have to keep a close eye on it for the rest of his life. City's around here chlorinate the drinking water occationaly, and some city's do it year round. If his gets as bad as mine, even that chlorine can be dangrous.

Good news is I'm not the only freek in the family with this problem anymore. ::chuckles:: Missery 'n company 'n all that.

Oh, and also, Geoff 'n Sarah are gunna be moving back to Oly sometime in the next month or two. Geoff's now ahving an hour comunte each way to work, and it's wearing on him. They orignaly moved to Rodchester because they both worked south of there, so it made sence. But now that neither one is working south anymore, they're eager to get back to where they don't have the comutes. They're already house hunting.


And that is all. I've run outta spoons.

As I'm sure you all have noticed, I'm not a patriotic person. In all honesty? Patriotic people creap me the fuck out, as anyone who heard me shudder and rant about the Americana Overload I suffered last year while visiting Mom's family on the holiday. It's not that I don't love the "life, liberty, and freadom" side of living here, it's more the "Trust No One" side.

But still, this is my country, and it has brought us a few good things...like 1776, The Best Musical Ever! (Or, well, tied with Phantom of the Opera, at least.)

Since I'm not a partiotic person, and I don't like hanging out with extended family members (as a rule), and I hate getting eatten alive by bugs while waiting for fireworks outside, I don't have many traditions for this day...but I do have 1776. Every year for I'm not sure how many years, I watch it. Last year I couldn't get to my copy, but I did listen to the musical on my .mp3 player a few times.

This year I managed to find a copy of the more recent Directors Cut, and I loved it! It actualy re-incorporated the missing "Cool, Cool, Considerate Men" (the Conservitive Minuet), which has always been my favorate song by far. I hated that it got cut out of the movie for so many years.

This is a movie I recomend to everyone, American or whatever, because it's just damned funny! I always find myself laughing out loud in mulipul places, even after seeing it so many times. I always manage to forget certin bits until they're on screen, and then I'm laughing again. Okay, okay, so it's maybe not the most acurate play/movie/musical you'll see, but it's still good, and gives a fairly ballanced overview of the situation and the times. Including why slavery was left in, despite everything else talking about all men being free and equil. (side note: I actualy saw the Declairation Of Indepdance, The Bill Of Rights, and the American Constituion on deply in DC when I went years ago, and was suprisinly moved by the experience. And yes, John Handcock really is the only name you see, it's so big. ::LOL::)

On that note, I'm sad to say that Benjamin Franlin did not say, "Treason is a charge invented by winners as an excuse for hanging the losers." ...More's the pitty, I LOVED that quote. Also? Not everyone signed the declairation on July 4th, only John Hancock did. The rest signed over the course of the next two years or so. Also, there were more 50 members of congress at the time, not the twenty or so depicted in the movie.

Oh, but the "I'm obnoxious and disliked" running joke was real, John Adams did say that first, but he actualy said it durring his presidency, many years later. While in congress, he was actualy very much respected. But this way is much funnier.

I could go on and on about this musical for awhile. My favorate version will always be the local production selynne and I saw last time she came up for a visit. But really, I think everyone should take a few minutes to track down the movie version of this at least. 90% of the cast in the movie are the orignal cast from Broadway. 1776 actualy won the Tony for Best New Musical the year it came out, most noticably beating out Hair, which was the front runner by a long shot. No one actualy thought a musical about politics 200 years ago was gunna be such a hit. ::snickers::

Also? I dare anyone to watch this and not silently ship John Adams/Ben Franklin even a little bit. Go on, watch 'n try, I dare ya!

And in totaly unrelated but still \o/ news, this is the 50th wedding anivesry of my grandparents. The party is gunna start in about four hours, give or take. And can I just say, "OMG, FIFTY YEARS!? How the fuck did they manage that?" ::LOL:: Considering that, what is it now, 52%? 56%? Of all marrages in the US end in devorce? All I can say is, they really don't make 'em like they used to. ::claps for grandparents::

Okay, and with that, I'll leave you all to make up yer own minds on if this is a day to celibrate or not. I have done my patriotic duty for the year, and as the credits rolled, I was done 'til next July.

Instead, I'll just leave you all with this: The Muppets Stars And Stripes Forever. Because, really? What's more patroic then the Swedish Chef and a song sung by muppets who can't actualy say any english words?


Oh, and anyone wondering about my subject title? It's my quote for the month on my LJ Sidebar. It's inspired by one of my fav 4th of July quotes: "The 2nd Day of July 1776 will be the most memorable in the History of America." -John Adams, 3rd July 1776

Okay, so I totaly suck as both a friend, and an LJ/DW poster this month. I haven't updated my quotes, I missed posting links, info, and quotes on the 1st annivesry of George Carlin's death, and I totaly missed Caers' birthday by like two weeks. ::hangs head:: ::holds out wrist to be slapped:: I did remember each of those things I was planning to do on the correct days, but, well...health, tired, put it off, yadda yadda yadda.

So first up, very belated, but no less heart felt:

   Happy Birthday, caersmane   

Sorry, hon. I was thinking of you on the day! Once I'm back up to "human", I'll make it up to you with a drabble or icon or something. {{{hugs}}}

And now for the one I actualy am on time for, for the first time this month:


   Happy Birthday, zabira / zabira   

Classic story of a local girl who makes good, and rocks all of fandom with her awsomeness. We all know of her rocking, do I really need to go into it here? Didn't think so.

Happy Birthday, Ladies! You both rock beyond words!

   Happy Birthday, catyah   

Made it in under the wire! \o/ Happy birthday, sweetheart! I look forword to watching your garden grow with you!

That was satisifying enough, I just had to share the experience.

So as most of you know, I was intended to be third genoration law enforcement. ( A Quick Explanation Of The Situation )

Today was the first day he came over since starting.

Which means, today was the first round of Baccon jokes!

Oh lord, does Dad regreat teaching me baccon jokes as a kid. He had no idea he'd end up as a cop, and I gave him hell with 'em once he did. Now it's Geoff's turn.

I started him off easy. He asked me how I've been doing this week, so I replied I had been doing fine until the smell started. So logicaly, he looked confused, and asked, "What smell?"

As soon as he said it, you could see his mind go, "oh shit, that was a stright line..."

"That....baccon smell." I turned to Dad next to me and asked, "Don't you smell it?"

Geoff went bright red within seconds. Mostly, I think, because he should have seen that one comeing a mile away. ::snickering::

First day Dad was a cop, I took him out for donuts and coffee. I'm too sick to do that with Goeff, so verbal assults'll have to do for now.

I love my family. ::still laughing::

(For the record, it's been a week, and Geoff's new boss has yet to realise he's the one who's been leaving the bright pink donuts on his desk every morning. ::LOL!!::)

Gotta be quick tonight, but I didn't wanna miss it!


   Happy Birthday, meresy/meresy   


Hope it was a great one, and hope it's the start of a great year! \science/

I can't say enough about the wonderfulness that is our darling Q, who is even now probably eatting her wonderful sounding home made spice cake with vanilla on top. Yumm! So I'll keep this short 'n sweet.

   Happy Birthday, queue/qe2   

Happy Birthday, hon! I'm glad yer healing up so fast! Here's to a new year full of the ability to walk! Woot!

I know everyone is sick of seeing these, but I still feel the need to say it: I have four Dreamwidth invites left for anyone on my flist who wants one. Just let me know.

And to make up for that, I'm also including my new Quote Of The Month in my sidebar. Because of how dead I was last month, the Casey Stengel got left up for two months instead of just one. While I am still (mostly) dead this month, too, I thought I'd go ahead and change it while I was feeling well enough to do so.

To commemorate my ongoing state of dead, this month's quote is a simple one:


"He is one of those people who would be greatly improved by death."
-Saki


In update news, Dad is doing great. Unlike Mom, who spent the weekend after her knee replacement surgry rearranging furniture when no one was looking and re-apolstering the dining room chairs (I fuck you not, she actualy did this when our backs were turned...all eight of them! Danika saw, and she and I stepped in to finish), Dad is actualy doing what he should. Namely, takeing his pills on time, lieing down all day, useing the icepacks, and watching movies. Good boy.

I curently have no plans for my birthday, and I don't think anyone in the family has plans, either. (For those of you who are new and don't know, May is Birthday Week in our family. Sister Krsita's BDay is the 12th, mine is the 13th, Mom is the 15th, and Sister Danika is the 16, and Mothers Day is alawys the same week, too, of course, this year falling on the 10th I believe?) This is, however, the first year in ten or so that I will not be going to Clay Camp. That's hitting me harder then the "Oh God, I'm Turning 27, WTF?" thing. I have not missed a single Clay Camp since I joined the Guild. In fact, the first year, I wasn't even a member of the guild, just a Day Trip guest, and I think the second year, too, though that year I stayed one night. No matter how crappy a year is, no matter how strapped for cash, I alawys make it to Clay Camp.

But between my Death, and the new Guild scholersihp rules no longer covering 100%, I just can't do it. That's hitting me, now, and it sucks. Royaly fucking sucks. So I'll probably be pretty depressed that weekend. We'll see how it goes.

Other then that, I'm doing okay. Little more stable this week, for whatever reason (I'm not questioning it, just going with the flow). But this officaly uses up all my energy, so gunna go lie down agian. Happy Beltane, everybody!

Today is Clay's fourth birthday. In two weeks, it'll be the 4th anniversery of the first time I saw/met/held him. I'm not quite sure what to make of this. ::lol::

I am in no way a kid person, not by any streach of the imagination. I wanted a baby for probably about a week when I was around four...then I grew out of it. Never wanted kids since, not even for a moment. I'm still planning to have a tuboligation as soon as I can get a doctor to do it and have Medicare pay for it.

But Clay...Clay was the first baby in my life I considered mine. And Brain a year after that, of course, but Clay was the first.

I still hate kids, and I reach my limit very, very quickly, even with Clay and Brain and Susan, but that limit of "okay, enough, get them away from me" is higher with these two then any other kid I've ever spent time with in my life.

It was Clay who gave me the name Buddy. I was one of his Favorate People Ever as a baby, could get him to sleep when no one else could, and like with Brain, I could get him to eat more then anyone else, even more then Anne or SueMary could (because of their birth mother's Meth use, it was imparitive that we keep both babies eatting as much as possible, as offten as possible). Clay always wanted to spend time with me. But then one day, he stopped. I went from being a FPE, to being someone he looked at as if confused as to why I was talking to him. No one could figure out why. As soon as he started learning more then just the basic words, he stopped talking to me.

Then one day, outta the blue, we were all playing the "What is/Who is that?" game where you point at something, and he has to say the word for it. And he's brillent, got every name right with people, and right very quickly on objects (expeicaly for his age, wow, both of them are so smart when it comes to words!!). And when mom pointed at me, and asked, "Who's that?" He tilted his head, and looked very confused for a moment. Then after mom said, "Who's that?" again, he nodded once and said, "Buddy."

We were all taken a back, left blinking, so mom said, "Who's that?" and he smiled hugly and said, "BUDDY!" And just like that, in an instant, I was back to being a FPE.

Turns out? Clay couldn't say my name! He just struggled with it for some reason. So rather then stumble saying my name and be left upest with himself, he just stopped talking to me all together. If he didn't spend time with me, no one would ask him to play "who's that" with him. So eventuly he decided to just give me a new name. One he could say.

I've been Buddy ever since.

A name I wear with great pride, too.

I'll never be a kid person, not even if I were the last woman alive and had to contenue the human race. If I'm the last woman able to bare offspring? Sorry, put us on the ex-list, 'coz we're toast. I'm not a kid person...but for Clay, and for Brian and Susan, I'm as close as I'll ever get.

I can't believe it's been four years.

Dad got home from his surgry. It all went off without a hitch, and he is safely medicated and getting some sleep. Things could not have gone better.

Joe got the dates wrong. His surgry is tomorrow, not today. So good thoughts again tomorrow, please?

I'll post again tomorrow with an update on how it went. He should be home by afternoon, evening at the outside.