Archive for the ‘Personal stuff’ Category
August 1, 2008 (4 weeks ago) around lunchtime | 
Personal stuff, Work-y stuff
Yeah, so this just happened. (If you can’t tell from the pic, the entire shelf in my closet broke off the wall.) Plus, there’s some work drama going on and I have a million and two things to do today despite staying up until 6am last night (or this morning I should say). August is not getting off to a good start.
Hopefully it’ll be better next week after I get all this crap taken care of.
Comments »
July 31, 2008 (4 weeks ago) in the early afternoon | Personal stuff
I was walking by my kitchen today and I realized that I never changed my calendar from June to July. And tomorrow it’ll be August, so what’s the point of changing it now? The weird thing is, this is a pretty apt metaphor for July in general. At least for me. I can’t remember a July in recent history that didn’t completely suck balls. And not in a bad things happening kind of way, just in a general what the hell happened way.
It’s the lost month for me. I completely lose motivation to do anything. I don’t want to work or answer emails or talk to anyone. Usually I start obsessing over something. One year I watched the entire run of Everwood. Twice. (And that took some dedication because the bastards at Warner Brothers still haven’t released the last three seasons on DVD, so I had to get the episodes in a not so legal manner.) Before that was the year I discovered Harry Potter and read books 1-5 straight through. Last July, with the release of the last book in the series, was mostly dedicated to Harry again (read 7 twice in a row). This July, while not nearly as bad as the Everwood July, has been fairly TV-centric as well. I watched first two seasons of Once and Again (another fantastic show that is taking forever to have all it’s season’s released on DVD). I watched up to Season 5 of the Sex and the City (a lot of that was in June, though) and last week I got Spaced which possibly the most awesome show ever and have been making my way through that. (What is UP with British people only doing two “seasons” of their shows?!?) And of course, there is teh awesomeness that is Dr. Horrible (It’s free again, go watch it!).
I don’t know what the hell it is about July, but it’s just a time suck for me. Maybe it’s because it’s the middle of year and I’m just tired or burnt out or whatever, but I just can’t seem to help but to get into a funk when the month comes around. This year really hasn’t been nearly as bad as others. I actually did some work. And I was smart enough to know that July would be like this, so I didn’t schedule any major projects until next month, so I didn’t have that much work to do anyway. It also helped that I had a new hobby to help keep me somewhat focused.
Still, though, I’m glad this month is over! It’s time to move on and get some shit done. I’m starting to annoy the hell out myself.
June 6, 2008 mid-afternoon | Personal stuff, Work-y stuff
Well, that was easy. I submitted my resume at Brandon’s company and they hired me pretty much immediately. I’ll be working Monday/Wednesday/Friday starting next week. This works out really well as there will be no “who gets the car” issues, I’ll just be working the same hours as him on those days.
I’ll be on the internet all day, so I’ll still be able to answer my email and help clients, but I’ll probably stick to doing actual design work at home on Tuesday, Thursday and the weekend. Since I’m taking a break from new projects this summer, this won’t be an issue, but I’ll have to see how things go in the fall. I may need to cut down to two days a week if I start getting busy with projects again. Or I may just limit how many projects I do a month, so that I can do both without getting overwhelmed.
But basically my “job” will be to play a game all day. !!! Can’t beat that with a stick. It’s one of those new social network-y sites, but it’s aimed for kids and there are tons of games and a whole universe to play around in. They have their own avatars and houses and they get money from the games to buy furniture and stuff like that. But they can also chat with friends and live in the same “neighborhood” and play games together. My job is “lifeguard”. I think I just monitor all the chats and games and make sure there aren’t kids who are doing/saying inappropriate things and I get to kick them out if they are. Fear me, kids. I have all the power!
May 22, 2008 around lunchtime | Personal stuff, Work-y stuff
I never know what to write when I haven’t posted in a while. Should I just ignore it and pretend nothing happened or make some lame excuse about being too busy. Well, both those things are true of the past few months so I guess I’ll just move on. I have been over on Twitter quite a bit and I found a plugin that posts my tweets on here, though I’m not sure I want to keep using it or not. It’s seems kind of redundant since I think most of the 5 people who read this blog also follow me on Twitter.
Anyway, I’m winding things down at work because I plan on taking the summer off. I only have a few projects left and then nothing on my schedule until the fall. I’ll still be technically working, just not on any new design projects. I haven’t had a break in, well, ever since I started freelancing three years ago and I am so incredibly burnt out right now. I definitely need some personal time.
I also feel like I’m in a bit of personal rut. Working from home for three years is…well it changes you. I’m home alone all day long. Most weeks Brandon is the only other person I talk to face to face. Except for maybe, like, the check out person at Target. And that’s pretty depressing. It’s not like I was Social Sally before I started doing this, but lately I’ve been feeling like I’ve regressed even more. Especially living in a new town where I know exactly no one.
February 27, 2008 mid-afternoon | Home is where the heart is, Personal stuff
I just realized we’ve been living here more than a month now. It’s weird because it feels like it’s gone by fast, but at the same time, when I think about living in Orlando it feels like a distant memory. Like it was years ago and not months ago.
It was certainly a pain in the ass getting here with all of three weeks to prepare for a move to a new city, but I think we made the right decision moving here. Brandon and I were driving home from Target the other day and he said (completely out of the blue) that he was (probably for the first time in his life) completely happy. I would have to concur.
We’ve been living together for a long time now and we’ve lived in a lot of different places, but none of those were places that we both made a joint decision to live at. It’s always been one-sided. Brandon lived in Savannah with me while I went to college (technically he was supposed to be going to college as well, but who wants to think about what a mess that whole situation was — and how we almost broke up because of it). Then I moved to Orlando with him so he could go to college. He never liked Savannah (though I would move back there in a second) and we both hated Orlando from day one. It was the only option for the type of school he needed to go to, though, so we didn’t have a choice. Then we wound up staying there for two more years out of his loyalty for that school and the teachers and students he worked with there.
February 20, 2008 mid-afternoon | Personal stuff, The Days of my Life
Well, the first half of my birthday didn’t start out too great. I wound up staying up all night in order to finish a site that was to launch this morning. But I did get it launched, so I am happy about that. And when I got up this morning (this afternoon, actually) I only had 1 work email (I usually average 5-10)! I consider that a gift from the email gods (the google gods?). Possibly the best gift I could get. So I guess my birthday hasn’t been so bad. Tonight Brandon’s taking me out for a nice dinner (I’m going to order dessert, too!). And now that this project is done I can relax a bit and watch some of my DVR backlog. Our trip up to Savannah next month to see Ben Folds is my real birthday present, but after the travesty that was yesterday, having a laid back “boring” day will be nice.
So yeah, yesterday. Not even counting the whole staying up all night crap, it was pretty bad. I was beyond frustrated trying to get that site done and it was taking forever due to circumstances completely out of my control (pretty much the whole afternoon was a complete waste of my time). In the middle of that (mid-highlight, in fact) my keyboard AND my mouse completely died. Those fuckers are broken now and by broken I mean into little pieces after I hurled them at the wall. I completely lost what I was doing when I had to restart the computer using Brandon’s keyboard and my little laptop mouse.
After that I went down to the mail to see if my new iPod was there. Sure enough it was (two days early!). My new apartment has larger boxes big enough for packages and they just put the key for a box in your mail box when you get something. Well, all the mail boxes have seen better days, they’re pretty old and rusted. And the key I got was equally crappy. So you can guess what that means: I couldn’t open the damn box. The key wouldn’t fit in there and it kept bending, the lock wouldn’t turn at all. Combined with my earlier frustration, I was pissed the hell off. I just wanted my damn iPod! I must have looked like a crazy person too, because I was hitting and kicking the boxes, cursing, all of this in my pajamas with no make-up on. I must have been a sight.
February 12, 2008 mid-afternoon | Personal stuff
Well happy birthday to me. Oh wait, I don’t get to have a birthday next week because I’m broke. Wee!
Last week we had to pay $300 to Comcast (who I HATE already because their service sucks ass) for the first month’s bill plus a whole bunch of completely bogus set up fees. This week, we have not one but two electric bills due. One for my previous electricity provider which is for 1 and a half months of service ($188) and the other for my new electricity provider for half a month of service plus a security deposit ($235).
The thing that makes it worse is that it looks like I’m going to have to pay a late fee to the new electricity provider because they won’t let me pay the full bill. What the hell? I tried to register for their online payment service, but that didn’t work when I realized the bill they sent didn’t include my meter number. Thanks a lot for that. So I called into their automated service to pay by phone, but the autobot seemed to think I only owed payment for the half month of service and would only allow me to pay $35. I finally got an email from them this morning with my meter number, but when I registered it still wouldn’t let me pay the freaking $200. So now I have to send a check and it’s going to be late. Awesome.
I was going to buy myself a shiny new iPod nano (pink!) for my birthday (I’ve never had an iPod before, I’m like the last person in the world to get one), but now I’m not so sure.
February 7, 2008 in the wee hours | Personal stuff
I got tickets to see Ben Folds! I’m soooo excited. Yes, I technically saw him last August, but that really wasn’t the best concert. Mainly because it was John Mayer concert featuring Ben Folds, which is totally different from a Ben Folds concert. Also, that was in a giant venue and we had fairly bad seats, while this concert will be in a VERY small venue with awesome seats (I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure we’re in the third row or better). The really awesome thing is that it’s at my college so we get to go back to Savannah, where we lived for 4 years. I LOVED it there and we’re actually only about 2 hours away from it now, so it won’t be a long trip at all. The concert is on a Friday in March, so we’re going to make a weekend of it. There’s a ton of places I want to visit again. Most especially, because Savannah is an AMAZING town for a photographer and it really annoys me that I didn’t get into photography sooner and I missed out on all the amazing shots and experiences I could have had.
February 4, 2008 mid-afternoon | Personal stuff, Relationship stuff, Work-y stuff
Well today is the official start of Get My Shit Together 2008. I’ve let myself get unhealthy and unproductive and I’m letting work take over my life. It’s just not a good way to live, so I’m trying to change. I’m not just saying that either. Brandon is doing this with me because he’s feeling the same way.
First, we’re starting with an exercise routine. Our new apartment has a “gym” and while it leaves something to be desired, it’s a BIG improvement over the “gym” at the old apartment where ALL the machines were broken. It has an elliptical, bike, stepper and a bunch of different weight machines, which is enough for us to work with. There are two broken treadmills and we’re hoping they might get fixed or replaced soon. If not, we’ll make due.
Comments »
February 1, 2008 mid-afternoon | Home is where the heart is, Personal stuff, Pet stuff
I would like to get into a semi-regular posting schedule again because I was doing so well in November and December, but I’m SO behind with work right now that I feel horribly guilty doing anything that’s not work related. I know, logically, that I can’t work 24/7 and that it’s unhealthy and blah blah blah, but I’m just so overwhelmed right now. I don’t know what to do about it. It’s actually keeping me from getting stuff done because I’m at the point where I have so much to do that I don’t even know where or how to start. So I go to Google Reader or PopURLs and procrastinate instead. Which only makes me feel more guilty. It’s a vicious circle I can’t win.
Blah.
As far as my living situation things are going well, though. Brandon finally built his desk last week, so we’re completely unpacked. My new sofa (which thankfully fit through the front hall) was delivered on Tuesday so we have a place to sit and watch TV (not that I watch much TV because I feel too guilty about it).
Comments »
