My Adventure with Cancer

As I write this, I have sitting in my draft posts an open letter to some puritanical nutcase regarding his take on the sexual revolution. The reason it is in draft stage is that, almost 500 words in (not counting footnotes) I still have a lot to say on the subject.

So why is it when today, upon learning that my uncle's cancer has returned, I was rendered completely speechless?

I found out via facebook, of all things. He created a page called My Adventure with Cancer to update his friends and family on his journey while he fights this disease for the second time. Even after the initial shock, when I'd managed to stop crying and calm myself down a bit, I couldn't bring myself to like the page. Of course I want to be kept up to date. Of course I want to be able to send messages of support. But - and this is going to sound stupid - I kept thinking my FB profile page is going to read Athena McCormick likes My Adventure with Cancer.

I told myself this was stupid. Everyone will understand that Facebook uses very limited language to talk about everything, no one is actually going to think that I like the fact that my uncle has cancer. So I decided to click the dreaded like button, to ensure that I'll get emails or updates will end up in my newsfeed or however the Hell Facebook does things these days. But when I went to do it, I still couldn't. I saw all the messages of support coming in from my uncle's friends, offering prayers and well-wishes and I couldn't think of anything to say. At least, nothing that seemed right. I'm not religious. I pray. I prayed every single day from the time I found out he had cancer the first time, until after the surgery he had to remove it. I had a little chant, so as not to leave anything out. That his surgery would work, that they would get all the cancer, that he would be ok. But offering my prayers to the universe-in-general to a Christian man who knows I don't share his faith seems wrong somehow, like taking a coal-powered train to an environmental protest. I thought, I should tell him I love him - and then I thought, how incredibly awkward would that be? My family love each other, of course we do, but we don't go around saying it all the time, and I kept thinking that if I tell him I love him suddenly, after hearing this news, it's going to look like I think he's going to die.

I've lost three family members to cancer, a much-loved aunt and both of my grandfathers. I imagine a world where every disease is cured, every war ended, any injury can be mended and we all die of cancer. What a horrible imagination I have.

Eventually, I came up with what I wanted to say and I said it - part of it. I put it out into the world and now I just have to hope that it was enough, that it was the right thing to say, that the occasion didn't require something more or less or different.

You would think, in a world like ours, so besieged by terrible diseases, there would be a protocol for this, an etiquette. That somewhere, a prim British lady with white gloves and an ugly hat should be telling young girls what to say when a family member is diagnosed - while the girls balance books on their heads and walk in circles around a reception room. You would think.

There's some comfort, perhaps, in the idea that we're all muddling through this, that no one knows how they're supposed to behave in these situations. And it's nice to know that I come from a family of fighters, of people who don't give up, of people who are determined to beat the odds.

It makes me proud. It really does.

Flesh for Fantasy = Never Changing the Radio Station

At work and nothing much to report. It is Rtardedly hot in here, and I am absolutely melting. Either there is something very wrong with my ability to regulate my body temperature or something wrong with all (3) of the buildings that I spend time in. I'm always either freezing cold or sweating buckets. Blah.

I love that my only complaints in life at the moment are tied to body temperature. Everything else is going wonderfully right now (*KNOCK ON WOOD!!!!!*) I leave Canada in a few short weeks and I think this is easily the most excited I've ever been about anything, ever.

I'm starting to stress a little, but it's all self-inflicted stress, brought on my guilt when I'm procrastinating and know I shouldn't be and it's easily overcome.

I'm going to miss this place; I have a great job, I've made some great friends and I live in a beautiful national park - but I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone back home that I haven't seen in 5.5+ months and I'm really looking forward to the part that comes after that, the end of the 108 day wait, when I'll fall into a state of ridiculous happiness which will somehow contrive to surpass what I'm feeling now.

Books and Other Stuff

In a couple of minutes, I'll have to start my night audit, but until that happens...

I made an account on LibraryThing tonight and merrily went about cataloguing all the books in my library - only to discover that I can't remember what books I own. At least not all of them. The other thing I discovered is that I own a lot of Heinlein, more than any other author. It's weird because as much as I like his work, he's maybe my second or third favourite author. Also, I'm not a huge science fiction fan in general.

This has got me thinking about my travel plans and my mini library, and how, for the time being, I will have to pack it up and store it - which isn't a huge deal; it's just that I have to find somewhere to store it, where it will be safe from water and extreme temperatures and my Dad*. My parents have been storing so much of my stuff for so long, I hate to ask them to hold onto anything, but if I follow my plan of reducing my possessions to 6 Rubbermaid containers, maybe they won't mind so much.

I still haven't made a list of the stories I want to focus on. I need to do that ASAP, because until I do, I'm just going to be writing little bits and pieces of everything and not getting anything done. Ugh.

I have a million lists to write (and more importantly, execute) and I have no idea where to start. I'm too bloody excited to focus on anything for more than a few minutes and it seems like whenever I say to myself "You're going to do it right now", something else comes up. IE: I could start making lists at this very moment, and would be making myself, but I have to start my paperwork for the night audit. I'm not complaining, exactly. I'm too happy to complain about much of anything - I'm more just thinking out loud (there needs to be a term for when you're doing this with text. Thinking out text or typing out loud or something).

Anyway, night audit time. Then, post night audit, list making time.

*My Dad loves to read, but he and I have a different philosophy on the value of books. He seems to think that their only value is in being read, so as long as you can continue to read them, everything's good. I agree that books are meant to be read, but I think when they're not being read, they should be on a shelf somewhere, rather than propped open on a nightstand, with a the front cover bent back in the bathroom or on the floor beside the bed.

A Happy Christmas to You

This picture creeps me out for a few reasons, not the least of which being that the birds in it seem to each have four legs. I thought it was fitting for the last in my miniseries of Creepy Holiday Art from Yesteryear.

Anywhom, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I woke up at 5:30 in the morning, bursting with excitement, and, because I couldn't wait any more, opened my stocking. My cousin texted my sister and I at twenty to seven, so since Rhiannon was awake anyway after that, we opened our presents while it was still dark out. I texted out my Merry Xmas message, figuring that it would be late enough in Ontario - and not remembering that not everyone I know is in that time zone. I think I woke a few people up.

Now I'm crazy tired and don't really want to bake pies, but want to eat pies later.

I got a lot of cool stuff, which I want to list, and might, when I am not so ass-tired.

I finished Siddhartha on the 23rd and loved it.

Now I'm going to cut this short, because I work tonight and need to make pies... and really want to sleep. A lot.

:)

Possibly this is my 800th post titled :) I blame it on the fact that I can't stop smiling. Honestly, I look through old blog entries, mentioning how I just feel off or through my old notebooks, where, unconsciously, I've written things like I hate my life and I actually can't remember feeling that way. I know I did. I remember the events or the existence of the emotions, but the feelings are completely gone. Right now, I'm smiling and it seems like I always have been.

Christmas is coming and I'm not going home for the first time in my life - but I'm actually not too upset about it. I'll hang out with Spooey, work, probably have a holiday drink. Nothing terribly exciting, just a nice, quiet Christmas.

(It's 2:00am, so I'm sending good wishes for good luck.)

I've started working on another new story. I really like the idea of this one a lot, but I feel guilty when I work on it, because really, I should be: finishing Caution and Creep, editing Caution and Creep, editing Emmeline, writing Little 15, editing Sunshine, writing 200 Pages, writing The Things That Aren't, writing Sugar Dust, rewriting Taken, rewriting The Inn at Night or working on a million other stories that are in Title Limbo at the moment. But the new one has Death in (the character), and I like it. Maybe I should make a list, pick 5 and only work on them, until I'm done. Caution and Creep has got to be up there... I've had readers waiting for over 2 years.

I had pizza today. Bad idea.

Ok, it's ten after two, so I'mna make me some hot chocolate and start the night audit.

Have a wonderful day, people.

Good Morning!

I'm at work and really should be working, but instead I'm blogging and waiting for my fingernails to dry.

I spent the first chunk of my shift going over the eight or so pages of 200 Pages that I've completed. Honestly, if I wasn't so burnt out from eleven eleven wish, I think I could finish it in a couple of night shifts - certainly within a month, because unlike eleven eleven, I can just produce word vomit, not edit it, and as long as I include all the necessary scenes, leave it at that - although, now that I've said that, I do feel like I should get my MC pinned down a little better -then maybe I'll get drunk and channel her for a few days.

Also, I finally finished part 12 of Little 15, which is going to end up being a novella, instead of a short story (it was revised to 'short story' after I realized that my original oneshot had taken two chapters to finish).

Caution and Creep is still looming over me and 56,000 words in, I kind of feel like a tool for shelving it. Also, I shelved it in November of 2008; I really ought to finish it. There's too much to deal with, story-wise, and it would really be stressing me out, if anything other than my desire to be elsewhere ever stressed me out these days.

I'm getting a surprise! It's coming on either Thursday or Friday (or maybe Monday, given our wonderful postal system) and I'm super excited. I want it now! But I'm getting good at acting patient; waiting for wonderful things is a big part of my day-to-day :) Also, my family sent my and my sister's xmas presents today, so we should be getting them sometime in the next week or two. We have to send their stuff tomorrow.

Clayton leaves tomorrow (well, I guess today - actually in less than three hours) for Ontario. He was supposed to leave a couple of days ago, but he decided to fly instead of bussing it, so we got him for a few more days. It sucks that he's going, but I know that I'll see him pretty soon - and he's going to be happy where he's going, and that's all I could wish for any of my friends.

Ok, my nails are dry and it's after 3:30 in the morning, so I should probably start doing some actual work now. Ooh, then two days off!

123+

My last post was number 123. That's sort of funny, if you're lame like me and have no sense of humour.

Unfortunately, I have no way to upload photos, otherwise this entry would be swimming in scenery. I suppose it's probably a good thing that it's not; I took 250+ pictures yesterday (would have taken more but for the memory card filling up) and it's nice when my blog actually loads.

My sister is in town, so yesterday, she, myself, my older brother and our friend Clayton took my brother's cab and went a-travelling. We went to Maligne Canyon, which is amazing and scary and just awesome. We went to Medicine Lake, which is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, a perfect mix of bounty and stark emptiness. I'm a little in love with it. Then we went to Maligne lake, which is absolutely beautiful, one of the places you're 'supposed' to go, if you visit Jasper. We didn't go on the tour of the lake, due to not really having the $$, but we walked along part of the shore and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Since I had planned to go swimming in the lake (I'd say the water is about 3 degrees or less), I went, despite the warnings of friends and the shocked expressions of the fishermen, who actually stopped to watch me in my feat of insanity. That water was effing cold! It started to snow as I was climbing back onto the dock to retrieve my clothes. After we got back in the car (I was pretty sure my toes were going to fall off), we went back into town to drop Claytron off so he could go to work, then we grabbed some food and headed for The Edge of the World. It's absolutely stunning, this lookout up in the mountains with 700+ foot drops everywhere and an unparalled view of the foothills and vallies surrounding Jasper. We did some pretty stupid, dangerous things (including, in my case, hanging onto a tree with my leg so that I could lean over a waterfall and take pictures), and generally had a fantastic time. We went back to my brother's house to put the pictures from my sisters camera onto the kick ass external hard drive that she got me for my Christma-birthday present, watched some videos on YouTube, napped, then went back to my apartment and had a wonderful night of watching the beginnings of a bunch of movies, then giving up and going to bed.

And that was my fabulous yesterday.

A Super-Quick Post

I've just applied for 900 (about 15) jobs in Jasper, which is all the jobs I qualify for, up to today.

I am absolutely bloody starving, and I need to find some food. We're out of almost everything.

Crap. I had another one, and I totally forgot. Oh! I know. I sold another FU, BP thing, this time, a shirt. Basically, I want to sell enough shirts that I can get my Russell Brand and Noel Fielding Shirt for myself.

I think that's it for now. Rhiannon is making pie, so I'm going to go eat some crust.

An Update, While I'm Waiting for the Dishes to Dry

...and by dry, I in fact mean cool down... and by dishes, I mean dish water.

Right. Glad we've got that sorted.

So, updateness: Jasper-planning seems to have halted a bit. The lack of immediately available funds is sort of sucking the enthusiasm out of the trip-planning processs, but at least now we have a rough idea of what we're doing and a back up plan if our first idea doesn't work. Suddenly, I find myself in very high demand; everyone seems to want something before I go, but unfortunately, no one has any money to pay me. I'm not so worried about it, family is family, so of course I'll work for them as cheaply (free) as possible, but it's the amount of stuff too - as if they don't understand that my time is valuable or that I could conceivably have anything to do other than their stuff. I don't have a 9-5 job, so immediately, I have 24 hours a day of free time.

I'm a little stressed. I think a large portion of that is because I'm seriously considering moving to Jasper (or somewhere nearish to there) instead of just visiting and I haven't told anyone other than my family this yet. I won't decide for sure until Xmas, but I don't know. I just feel like I need to get away from here... but I think part of that is because, no matter where I am, I'm always looking for a way to escape my life... but now I'm freaking out because I'm afraid that if I go, my dog won't be looked after properly, or he'll just be horribly upset and do what he did last time I went away and spend weeks lying where my bed had been, looking sad. But he's too old to take with me, even if I was going by car or plane. Really, Loki is my hold up in everything. I can't stomach the idea of leaving him for huge periods of time... but if I could come home every three months or so, I think I could manage.

That's really it, actually. I hardly see most of my extended family now, and I can call my Gran and my Grandma from wherever. My Gran thinks I should be travelling anyway, and my Grandma won't remember how long I've been away anyway. My immediate family I'll miss, but we'll talk on the phone and send emails; there's nothing I can't cope with there.

K, well, I think my dish water is likely cooled enough to finish this load. Ugh, I hate dishes. Sorrry for the downer post; maybe the next one will be more cheerful.

Mmm...

9:04, and already it's been a productive day. Sometimes I wish I were a morning person; I love the feeling of having done something before most people in my house are out of bed.

I woke up at 7:11 after having gone to bed pretty late [we were up watching the season finale of Dr. Who (!!!!!)], and I'm pretty sure I could have gone right back to sleep, but for once, I didn't try. I got up, got showered, shaved my legs to silky smoothness, because I actually time to exfoliate first, got dressed and decided to take Jethro out on the town. I spent five or ten minutes installing a completely useless side mirror which I got at the dollar store to tide me over until I can afford proper mirrors, then off I went.

Out on the town in this case, is a 4.5k ride that I completed in about half an hour*. So, now it's quarter after 9:00, and I've showered (even if I do have to do it again), gone for an almost decent length bike ride and updated my blog. Soon people will wake up and then, all things going well (*knock on wood* and all of that), there will be something involving a beach.

*This means that for the coming trip, I have to add a little over 3k/h to my speed, which considering I've been riding... oh, I'd say four times in the past probably four years, is pretty damn good.

It is So Bloody Hot

... and so am I. I joke, I joke. Sort of.

Ok, honestly, though, this is ridiculous. I'm wearing shorts and a tee shirt and I'm drenched in sweat. I wish it would rain. A lot. Right now.

Ok, so clearly that doesn't work the same way as having goblins steal your little brother... there's a thought. I could kill two birds with one stone: stop the incessant playing of Guitar Hero and meet pre-ghoul David Bowie in shiny capes and the infamous grey pants. I wonder if it's any cooler in the Goblin City. It practically has to be, and even if it's not, they've always got that pissing-dwarf statue in the city square.

Clearly, the heat is making me go a little wonky. I would go and have a cold shower, but I'm cooking lasagne for people (people not me, thanks to cheese death).

Earlier today, I made what I am now calling Egg Nog Cookie Bread, which basically consists of eggs, flour, vanilla extract and sugar stirred together then fried in a pan. It was actually pretty good, considering.

I smell gasoline. My Dad must be back with his truck. Yep, here he is. God, that's a nasty smell. I was wrong. That's my dad in his car, which is apparently having trouble.

Ok, I think I'm going to ride my bike to the grocery store, out of bordom and starvation. Happy reading, twits.

I guess I can't call you that if I'm not on twitter. Whatever.

I'm Out of My Effing Mind

No, really, I am.

My brother Lincoln left in mid-June to go to Jasper, where he and Clayton have now (I think both?) got jobs. The plan, pre-lack-of-$, was to attend FanExpo and, at the end of August, bus to Jasper to visit (and to Field, and on to Vancouver). Now, because, as stated before, I'm out of my effing mind, my sister and I are planning to cycle to Jasper, then on to Field and Vancouver. Updates on our insanity to follow.

The Other Shop

I forget how I found Skreened.com. Something I read on Twitter, I think. The FU, BP design was something I came up with while looking for components for a design Rhiannon had come up with and as soon as I thought of it, I had to try to sell it. So far, I've sold two, which considered my limited marketing, I think is pretty good.

Apparently, the guy on Twitter who started BPGlobalPR is donating the profits from his BP Cares shirt to clean up efforts (this is what I've heard, I don't want to put words in his mouth). You'd think that the world in general would be making more noise about the BP SNAFU, but it seems like an angry (albeit hillarious and informative) Twitter account and a few BP-hating tee shirts are about it for the Anti-BP movement.

That's all I have about that for right now. In a couple of days, my big brother and Clayton will be taking off for parts unknown (well, unknown to some people. I know where they're going). They're hitch hiking there, which makes me nervous, but they're going to be together which makes me considerably less nervous. Also in a couple of days, my little sister and her boyfriend get their first apartment (FINALLY). Also, my older sister is the maid of honour in an upcoming wedding and my youngest brother's elementary school graduation is in 8 days, so it seems like everyone has crazy fun stuff going on for the next little while. I'm tired from the activity going on around me and wishing I had fun stuff like this to look forward to at the moment.

On the other hand, Spoy and I have plans that end with us in Vancouver for a chunk of the fall, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much... of course, our plans are contingent on getting in to some medical studies (hooray for human guinea pigs!), but what can you do?

Ok, I think that's really it. Funny how most of this post has nothing to do with the other shop.

So,

For the first time in a while, I'm not posting something about BP's giant cock up. Actually, I don't think I can write the post I was planning to write. I guess that's the problem with blogs: anyone could be reading.

I shall write instead about the nature of forgiveness and my growing mistrust of men. Forgiveness is easy. I think this has to do with my (ever-dwindling) intelligence. When I was a kid, I was smarter than almost everyone I knew. That didn't last, but the unfortunate habit of assuming that all people are idiots never really left me. So I guess I really don't forgive people for their slights against me, so much as assume that they're too stupid to have helped themselves. This all sounds very arrogant, but I'm being very general here. And, honestly, a lot of people are idiots. I like to pretend that when I let something go, it's because I'm being the bigger person, but really, I think I just stop caring. I can't be bothered with people any more.

I wasn't always a misanthrope, but I am now. I was thinking about that today while I ate dinner, alone at my kitchen table. There was no reason not to have a sit-down meal with everyone else, but I didn't even tell them dinner was ready. I cooked enough for everyone then ate alone. I prefer it that way. I love my family, but I have trouble being around anyone for too long, and that includes them.

As for my mistrust of men... I get where it stems from, but I'm having a little trouble figuring out why it manifests the way it does. I used to be a free-thinking modern woman, the kind who was driven nuts by all the stupid stereotypes applied to both genders, the kind who saw people as people and wasn't terribly worried what pair of chromosomes they sported. Now, I find myself on the verge of full-on feminism, suddenly understanding those dumb broads who say things like all men are dogs. Any more, he only men I really feel 100% comfortable around (aside from close friends and family) are the ones I know I could physically overpower if I needed to. I like to know I could take a guy in a fight. How's that for messed up?

So, there we go, some unsolicited introspection from me, while I wait for my SVU episode to finish loading. I'm going to watch the rest of it, then head for bed, I think. Got to get going on those morning work outs again if I wanna be tattoo-ready by the end of the summer.

Not Out of the Woods Yet

It might seem like I have a bit of a one-track mind lately - and you know what? I do. Normally, I don't like to know what's going on in the world. I'm kind of known for how rarely I pick up a newspaper, for my total refusal to watch the news on TV. That's because everything that is deemed newsworthy by the media is awful and not something I want to spend my time thinking about. If this makes me intentionally ignorant, then I guess I'll have to own to that and move on, because nothing, not even this mess in the Gulf of Mexico, is likely to change my mind about the rock I live under.

I first heard about the oil leak a few weeks ago, when it had been going on for a while. My brother and our friend Clayton were talking about it as we headed down to the river, and to be honest, I thought they were exaggerating. The more I heard about it, the more I realised that they weren't, that the situation was every bit as bad as they said it was. Right before the whole thing with the beach and the dead fish, I did some research and was totally horrified by the crap BP was dishing out. I was also more than a little freaked about the debates going on online - and the fact that most of them seem to surround the question of whether BP will end the year in the red or in the black. The more I read, the more I became convinced that we're screwed. By we, I mean the whole planet. I don't think that any giant boats in China are likely to save us this time, with Chiwetel Ejiofor's help or not.

What's weird is that even though I really believed this was the end (and I don't think we're anywhere close to out of the woods yet), I couldn't bring myself to do anything. I haven't been writing, because all I could think about is that there wasn't any point, that I might not even live to see another book published. I've spent the past couple of weeks on autopilot, not wanting to put any effort into anything. That makes no sense, though, because I should have been running around, working my ass off to complete everything on the semi-formed bucket list I've had in my head for my whole life, instead of just going numb and crazy, not wanting to work toward anything and at the same time, making plans for a future I didn't believe in.

I found out about half an hour ago that the top kill thing (basically pouring mud into the oil well) has kind of worked, ish, that they've significantly slowed the amount of oil flowing into the ocean. Now, I have no idea if this is true or if it's just another big load of shit from BP, but when I read that news, I literally burst into tears.

Now I just feel inspired to do stuff. All stuff. I want to work out, get a good body so I can get a tattoo or 80. I've always wanted one, and the only thing holding me back has been my fear, not of the pain so much as that my future self won't like it. Well screw it... my present self is more important; my future self might not even exist. I want to get a job and be able to afford to live the way I want, I want to reconnect with old friends, and get rid of the unhealthy influences in my life. I want to climb Burges and go on multiple-day hikes. I want to find true love, which means I want to believe in true love. Right now, I want to do everything.

Molly Dolly

As much as I've been complaining lately, about various things, I suppose I should really just learn to be grateful for what I have. For example, I have an extremely supportive older sister - and as a result I have an adorable Moloch doll, the first ever Aigaion Girl merchandise*. Rhiannon made him for me as a Happy Book Release present. Notice how he's holding an Apple and even has a little loincloth? So damn cute. He even stands up on his own. I asked her how she did that, when his head is bigger than his boddy. She said she 'just did'.

Also, as part of further release festivities, she dug through the liquor store for ages to find a cider that I would a) enjoy and b) be able to drink (along with my wonderful spontaneous inability to eat/drink dairy, I seem to be developing a sensitivity to sulphites. Hooray.). She bought four cans, so we could toast to my book release and to my first sales.

So there you have it, my sister the genious.

*Even though this Molly is (and will remain) one of a kind, he's the basic prototype for the Moloch dolls that we plan to sell at our table at FanExpo.

In other news, I've been working a lot on 200 Pages today. I think I've come up with a fairly unique story to go in the main story (there's another story inside that one. It's kind of confusing, actually)... I'm really looking forward to getting this one finished and published.

Also, I left work early today because I was sick. It was so weird, it was like I had all of the physical symtoms of drunkeness with none of the fun parts; my arms and legs felt heavy and tingly, my face felt numbish, and I could focus on anything.... I'm telemarketing and I couldn't even stay fully conscious long enough to dial a number... plus my vision was blurring, so I couldn't read my script properly and I'm damned if I could recite it from memory (it's a really easy script). Anyway, it loses me a night of pay (and possibly Friday's stat pay) but what can you do?

Anywhom, it's nearly 11:00, so I should probably eat something. Yay fooid.

I Could Be at the Beach Right Now, But...

I don't know. My day pretty much got killed by my own stupidity in believing that "not too long" referred to a time period spanning less than five and a half hours. We were supposed to go to the office for "not too long" - in order to make a phone call, in fact, and I went along because there was something I needed to pick up. We were all hungry, so we went to a restaurant. About five seconds after we got there, my mother and my brother got into an argument which was essentially about nothing, but got heated enough that my mum ended up leaving (I would have too, probably, but the whole thing was still ridiculous). I followed her out, and so did my brother, and we got in the car, then drove to the office by way of our house (probably about 25-30 minutes, when all is said and done) with them fighting, and me just putting up with it, because I still had to go to the office and get my papers (now crumpled, but that's a different story). By the time we reached the office, they had stopped fighting, or figured it out, or, for once, just shut up about it, and since we were all still hungry, it was decided that we had to go back out, to another restaurant. That was fine, but I ended up spending nearly twice as much on my meal as I would have had to at the other place, and getting something I didn't like as much. Also, we were there for a really long time. When we finally got into the office, instead of the necessary phone call being made, my mother and brother decided to talk about random stuff for probably an hour and a half, then make the phone call, then talk, then call back, talk on the phone, etc., etc. So, I did all the stuff I needed to do (took Aigaion Girl down :( and some other stuff), then got bored with waiting, so started to work on other stuff. While I was in the middle of something, they announced that they were ready to leave, and I said I would be a little while 'cause I was kind of still working on stuff... about five minutes later, I was informed that they were waiting for me, so I shut my system down, only to be told that I didn't need to log off yet. Then we spent about ten minutes shutting everything down and locking up (coincidentally, if I'd had the ten minutes, I would have finished what I was working on)... then we came home, and everyone else went to various places (the beach, the movies) and I elected to stay here, because I honestly think I'd have ended up slugging someone if I had to spend another five minutes hanging around while people while they pretend to be happy... and I'm too tired to fake happy right now, and I can't deal with repeatedly being asked why I'm miserable or accused of being grumpy and/or surly.

So, that's my whining for the day. I'm back to work tomorrow because my employers decided to change their minds after telling us we'd get Monday off... and I would totally skip work (because that's a crap thing to do to people) but that would mean I was no longer eligable for Friday's stat pay, which would suck royal ass.

I think I'm going to go and rent a movie. This is the first time in a while that I'm going to have the whole house entirely to myself for a couple of hours and I don't want to waste it.

The Work Out

After seven months of doing next to nothing (partially due to my going to B.C., partially due to my ankle crapping out on me and largely due to my own laziness) I've decided to start working out again. The night before last, I went and bought an ankle brace and my sister brewed some tea (we are taking Marrakech Mint right now) and yesterday morning, after accidentally sleeping in, we set out for a trip around our old work out route.

I was surprised, both by what I can still do and by what I no longer can do. Sit ups, I can still do. Apparently, buried in there somewhere are some abs, nearly forgotten, but still strong enough to bend me in half. Also, I managed to do seven reps on the knee killer yesterday, which given the state of my knee, I thought was pretty amazing. The dip station gave me a little more trouble. It wasn't quite as bad as the first time I tried it, but yesterday, once I had lowered myself down, I still couldn't get back up. Today, I did two whole reps before my arms gave out on me. Also, even though I've been extremely tired post-work out, I feel like I could keep going indefinitely.

Today was beautiful, and on top of the nice weather, we met a nice lady who was been doing the circuit with her dog since the beginning of February (and I thought we were being troopers for starting in March). She goes three times a week, she said.

Tomorrow, all things being equal, my older brother will be joining us for our work out. I'm also going to message my younger sister and see if I can't convince her to come along as well.

Now, if I could just remember to write in my work out journal, I'd be all set.

PS - We've already started planning for 2010's trip down the river. It's going to kick ass.

MY WEBSITE HAS FINALLY BEEN LAUNCHED!

After a lot of years of agonizing over various things pertaining to my website (design, content, etc.), it's finally all finished, and, if I say so myself, it looks AMAZING. Lincoln did an amazing job helping me improve my designs then converting them into working code I am very, very pleased.

Now, of course, it's on to other things: getting A/G out there to the public, designing other websites, sitting down and writing 200 Pages and the other one. For right now, though, I'm seriously tempted just to kick my feet up and declare all done and refuse to do anything productive for the next month at least. Alas, that's not quite how it works. I'm going to do some quick PR, then it's back to the grindstone for me.

... almost there...

I have an Estore, a list price and an ISBN. What I'm missing is a website and a book that's actually for sale. But it's almost there. Almost.

I am so excited. I'm trying not to let myself get too much more excited, because that way leads to severe disapointment, if things, for some reason, don't pan out.

I need a credit card so I can order my proof copy. That's my goal for the end of this weekend, actually, but the sooner, the better.

I think that's it for Aigaion news. Now onto some other news, before I have to run for lunch...

MY COUSIN IS IN LABOUR! She's five weeks early, and I know so little about babies that I'm not sure how big of a deal this is... but I have heard of babies being born two or three months premature and doing just fine. Still no word yet on whether it's a boy or a girl. I'm just going to recheck facebook now, and see if there's any more news.